Nadal heads strong quarterfinal line-up
 Eight
of the world’s top 10 players will be in World Group
action when the quarterfinals of the 2008 Davis Cup by BNP
Paribas get underway this Friday. Four World Group quarterfinal
ties and 26 Zone Group I and II ties will be held on 11-13
April, with full coverage on the official Davis Cup website:
www.daviscup.com.
World No. 2 Rafael Nadals return to the Spanish team for
its quarterfinal away to Germany on indoor hard court in Bremen.
He is joined by No 5. David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez and Fernando
Verdasco, as Spain bids to reach its first semifinal since
winning the title in 2004. Germany is led by Philipp Kohlschreiber
in a team that also includes Nicolas Kiefer, Michael Berrer
and Philipp Petzschner.
Defending champion USA is unchanged for the 10th tie running,
with World No. 6 Andy Roddick, No. 8 James Blake, and Bob
and Mike Bryan looking to secure their sixth consecutive victory.
The team takes on France on hard court in Winston-Salem, North
Carolina, the venue for last year’s quarterfinal win
over Spain. France will offer a strong challenge, led by World
No. 10 Richard Gasquet and Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried
Tsonga, alongside Paul-Henri Mathieu and Michael Llodra. World
No. 7 David Nalbandian is joined by Guillermo Canas, Juan
Monaco and Jose Acasuso for Argentina’s tie against
Sweden on clay in Buenos Aires, the team having not lost at
home since 1998. Sweden sees the return of Robin Soderling
alongside veterans Thomas Johansson and Jonas Bjorkman, and
doubles specialist Robert Lindstedt.
Russia is led by the in-form world No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko
for its home tie against Czech Republic on clay in Moscow.
The 2008 Miami champion is joined by Mikhail Youzhny, Dmitry
Tursunov and Igor Andreev, with Marat Safin also available.
Russia has not lost at home since 1995. World No. 9 Tomas
Berdych and Radek Stepanek head the Czech challenge, alongside
Lukas Dlouhy and Pavel Vizner.
The four quarterfinal winners will compete in the World Group
semifinals on 19-21 September. In the semifinals, Russia would
be away to Argentina and Sweden, while Czech Republic would
be at home to either team. USA would be away to Germany and
Spain, while France would be at home to either team.
Sixteen nations will be contesting Zone Group I second round
ties in the three regions in a bid to qualify for the World
Group Play-offs on 19-21 September, where they will join this
year’s first round losers, Austria, Belgium, Great Britain,
Israel, Korea Rep, Peru, Romania and Serbia. The draw for
the World Group Playoffs will be held on Wednesday 16 April.
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