STARNBERG, September 8, 2018

Rafael Nadal will miss next week’s Davis Cup by BNP Paribas semi-final tie when France will host Spain in Lille. The World No. 1 retired in Friday’s US Open semi-final against Juan Martín Del Potro due to a knee injury. Nadal has a small tear in his patella tendon and will probably be out for a month.

Pablo Carreño Busta , Roberto Bautista Agut, Feliciano López and Marcel Granollers will travel to the French town on Sunday using different stops in Paris and Brussels. Spain’s Davis Cup captain Sergi Bruguera picked Albert Ramos as the fifth player.

Miguel Díaz, president of the Spanish Tennis Federation (RFET) said: “Now it only remains to wish that Rafa recovers soon, his commitment to our Davis Cup team has been maximum, but unfortunately he will not be able to be with us in Lille, we still have full confidence in the captain and our team. Albert Ramos showed a great team spirit in the first round in Marbella against Great Britain.”

Two of the last three meetings between Spain and France have been in semi-finals, with Spain winning both – in Alicante in 2004 and Cordoba in 2011 – before going on to win the title on each occasion.

Spain leads the head-to-head 6-2, but France won the last meeting between the two teams on French soil in Clermont-Ferrand in 2010.