Rafael Nadal will make his Davis Cup returnagainst Israel after being named by captain Albert Costa in Spain'ssquad for the semifinal tie in Murcia over the weekend of September18-20.
Spain'sRafael Nadal returns the ball during the doubles match against YoniErlich and Andy Ram in the Rome Masters tennis tournament. Photo: AP
Thesix-time Grand Slam winner, who played in the fourth round of the USOpen overnight, missed Spain's quarterfinal 3-2 victory over Germanythrough injury, but is fit again and will be his team's number 1against Dudi Sela and Co.
Nadal has won his last 12 Davis Cup singles matches, with his last loss coming more than five years ago.
With 12 players in the top 100, Costa had plenty of options fromwhich to select his squad, and he elected not to call up Spain'ssecond-best ranked player Fernando Verdasco (10), instead choosingTommy Robredo (15), David Ferrer (19) and Feliciano Lopez (37).
Even without Verdasco, the defending champion Spainis a massive favorite against Israel having won its last 16 home tiesand its last 18 encounters on clay.
Unlike Costa, Israel captain Eyal Ran had practically nooptions and once more called-up Sela (35), Harel Levy (138), Andy Ramand Yoni Erlich.
Sela and Levy havestruggled with their form since the stunning 4-1 quarterfinal victoryover Russia, with Ram and Erlich not playing together since.
Ram and Max Mirnyi played No. 2 seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic in the quarterfinals of the US Open late Tuesday night.
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