Tennis

Rafael Nadal loses Davis Cup team-mate Roberto Bautista Agut after father's death


Roberto Bautista Agut and Rafael Nadal have proved to be vital assets of the Spanish team in their quest to reach their first Davis Cup final since 2012 but the world No 1 will now have to do without his team-mate following his father’s death.

Bautista Agut played in his nation’s victories over both Russia and Croatia, but has now returned to his home town of Castellon.

The 31-year-old is current ranked at his highest ever position of world no 9 after an impressive 2019 saw him reach the last eight at the Australian Open and at the semi-finals at Wimbledon.

After Bautista Agut’s withdrawal, Nadal could now see one of Feliciano Lopez, Marcel Granollers and Pablo Carreno Busta join him in playing singles against Argentina on Friday.

Spain last won the Davis Cup Finals in 2011 with a win over their upcoming opponents Argentina, winning 5-3 in Sevilla on Clay.

Nadal has now gone 26 consecutive games without losing in singles and doubles combined, which no player has ever matched.

Nadal has now opened up on how he feels physically after his side’s recent triumph over Croatia, and outlined why Spain can still improve.

“The start of yesterday was not perfect – but here we are,” the 19-time Grand Slam winner told the official Davis Cup website.

“We found a way to win four matches in a row and that sent us through to the quarters, so we’re very happy.”

Nadal went on to outline why he has chosen to play doubles as well as singles amid his ongoing injury troubles, and opened up on why he could stop doing so.

He said: “You never know what’s going on in the future.

“I didn’t play doubles for the last year so for me it as important to at least have the feeling to play on court again.

“With Marcel [Granollers] things have been easier, and we played a good doubles.”

Spain will need to come through against an Argentina side that includes Diego Schwartzman and Guido Pella if they are to reach the semi-finals.



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