Rafael Nadal tells Marca that he is emotionally spent after winning the U.S. Open, and it will be tough to switch surfaces so soon for Spain’s Davis Cup playoff tie against Ukraine at home on clay this weekend.
Spanish Davis Cup captain Alex Corretja has said he will wait to see what state Nadal is in before he decides whether he should put his top player in Friday's opening singles lineup.
Corretja could keep Nadal on the sidelines and play Tommy Robredo and Fernando Verdasco, in which case Verdasco would play Ukraine’s top singles player, Alexandr Dolgopolov. Robredo would have to face Ukrainian number two Sergiy Stakhovsky, who upset Roger Federer at Wimbledon, but Stakhovsky does not have good results on clay.
Nadal’s friend Marc Lopez is slated to play doubles, and Nadal could team with him on Saturday.
"Right now, I feel empty, a little tired of everything," Nadal told Marca. “In emotional terms, when you have been playing for a month and winning all your matches and then you put the cherry on the cake here you have a slump and that's logical. It's nothing strange and I hope to be fine in a few days.
"Given the fatigue I am feeling, what I would like to do is rest and recuperate well physically and mentally for the Asian tour. It's the final sprint of the year and I am fighting for something as special as finishing as number one. The Davis Cup won't help me in that goal because to be prepared for what I have left it's not good to change surfaces. But I said I would go already a few months ago, I committed myself and I will be in Madrid. I hope to be ready to help out.”