Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro has decided not to play for the 2011 Davis Cup finalists in their first-round tie at Germany in February, La Nacion reports. Germany will hold the tie in Bamberg from Feb. 10-12 on an indoor clay court.
Del Potro's coach Franco Davin said their decision was based on the demands of the calendar and that he does not want the 23-year-old to make the fast transition from Australian hard courts to indoor clay, then back to European indoor hard courts. "It was a tough decision but we took it evaluating a lot of things. Germany chose that (slow) surface knowing it would be very difficult for Del Potro," Davin said. "(Germany's captain Patrick) Kuehnen was at the final in Seville and he thought it through well. Juan's physical condition is fundamental. To play on clay and the next day be competing on cement is a very high risk, even more so because afterward we have a calendar of seven weeks in a row, from Rotterdam to Miami."
Argentina has never won the Davis Cup, but if it beats Germany it would play the rest of its matches at home.