Spain at Slovak Republic Davis Cup Preview

Spain at Slovak Republic
Site: National Tennis Centre, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Surface: Hard indoors
Ball: Dunlop Fort Duck

The Spanish squad received a shock in January when Carlos Moya announced he was retiring from Davis Cup play, following the leads of Roger Federer and Tim Henman, to concentrate on his results at the slams. But what might be a major blow for other countries (read: Switzerland, Britain) is not a big adjustment for the Davis Cup defending champions, with five other Spaniards in the Top 50 on the ATP Rankings.

The Slovak Republic squad will hope that likely Spanish starters Rafael Nadal and Feliciano Lopez will have a difficult time making the transition from the South American claycourt swing to the hardcourts of the Bratislava National Tennis Center this weekend.

The left-handed net-charging F-Lo will likely get the No. 2 start behind Nadal over Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco, and French Open winner Al Costa who round out the squad.

Slovak captain Miloslav Mecir will front Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty and Karol Beck in singles, with The Dominator holding a 3-0 career advantage over The Prodigy. Nadal and Beck have never faced each other, while Spain's F-Lo has beaten Hrbaty in both their career hardcourt meetings, and Beck in their lone meeting on hardcourts in 2003.

"It promises to be a difficult tie but I believe we can win it," Spanish coach Juan Bautista Avendano said.

Tip the defending champs Spain in this first-time meeting between the two countries. Hrbaty has been anything but dominating thus far in 2005 with a 5-6 win-loss record, while Nadal is finally without injury and beginning to feel his oats -- and the hardcourt-loving F-Lo will have his back.