Novak Djokovic will be back in action as Serbia take on Spain in the quarter-final of Davis Cup 2017 World Group at the Aleksandar Nikolic Arena in Belgrade from Friday.
While Serbia will head into the tie with a full-strength squad, which, apart from the world number two Men's singles player, will also have Viktor Troicki, Dusan Lajovic and captain Nenad Zimonjic. Meanwhile, Spain will miss their top-ranked stars including Rafael Nadal, Roberto Bautista Agut and doubles player Feliciano Lopez.
Djokovic's presence has helped Serbia so far in the tournament as they outclassed Russia 4-1 in the opening round. The 12-time Grand Slam winner is returning from a elbow injury, that prevented him from playing the Miami Open last month. The Serb has not been in best of forms since beating Andy Murray in the final match in Doha and will be looking to get back to winning ways before the start of clay season.
The 29-year-old will take on world number 24 Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the opening round, which is expected to go in the former's favour. Djokovic though has reportedly warned his team against complacency has requested not to take the Nadal-less Spain team lightly.
On the other hand, Pablo Carreno Busta is Spain's highest-ranked player and he will take on Viktor Troicki later today before facing Djokovic in the third singles rubber on Sunday. A lot will depend on the world number 19 if Spain are to stand a chance of progressing in the tournament. Also, in the absence of Feliciano Lopez, Marc Lopez will have to shoulder the responsibility in the doubles rubber along with 20-year-old Jaume Munar.
Team News
Serbia: Novak Djokovic (MS 2, MD 344), Viktor Troicki (MS 39, MD 63), Dusan Lajovic (MS 84, MD 215), Nenad Zimonjic (MD 57)
Spain: Pablo Carreno Busta (MS 19, MD 19), Albert Ramos-Vinolas (MS 24, MD 850), Jaume Munar (MS 245, MD 409), Marc Lopez (MD 16)
