Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal because of injury has left France strong favourites to beat Spain in this week’s Davis Cup semifinals, according to Spain captain Sergi Bruguera.
Defending champions France host five-times champions Spain in Lille from Friday, with Yannick Noah’s side looking for a 10thvictory in the final year of the traditional format before the switch to an end-of-season event in 2019.
Nadal’s presence would have tipped a finely balanced tie firmly in Spain’s favour, but the world No.1 saw his US Open challenge ended by a knee injury.
NEWS: ‘I hate to retire’, says Nadal
That leaves world No.21 Pablo Carreno Busta and No.26 Roberto Bautista Agut to fill the singles places, with 19th-ranked Lucas Pouille and No.24 Richard Gasquet lining up for France.
“Of course, coming here without Nadal changes a lot for us. It changes everything,” said Bruguera, a former coach of Gasquet.
It's #DavisCup week!! Who's excited for the semifinals? ???? pic.twitter.com/uCxmWOmlTo
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 10, 2018
“I have several options but the French are much stronger favourites now. In Davis Cup, I feel that France is still one of the strongest teams. Even when there are one or two injured, you still find five or six super strong players.”
Noah maintains Spain, who replaced Nadal with world No.55 Albert Ramos-Vinolas, still have the stronger side.
However, he admitted that two of the five points are now back in play for both teams.
“To play Nadal, at home, you imagine the motivation, it would have been huge,” said Noah.
“For four, five months, we thought only of Nadal. I would have liked him to be there. For the preparation, his absence changes everything.
“Spain is not only Nadal, but it was two points for them almost for sure. We will have to adapt. Their team on paper is better than ours.”
The other semifinal sees the United States travel to Croatia, with Jack Sock and Steve Johnson the visitors’ highest-ranked players up against Marin Cilic and Borna Coric on the home side.
Sixteen teams take part in what are still called ‘World Group Play-offs’, albeit without the threat of relegation given next year’s change of format.
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