Title holder Spain's Davis Cup future is up in the air as Rafael Nadal announced he will not play next year in order to focus on the Olympics, David Ferrer appears to be saying much the same thing and captain Albert Costa may resign.
Ferrer, who was the hero of Spain’s win over the United States in the semifinals and also won his match against Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro, said that he does not think that the team of himself, Nadal, Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco will ever be together again.
"This is the end of the party," Ferrer told reporters. "I have been here for many years, and we all personally look at our own calendar. I'm older. I probably don't have a good physical condition, so it will be really difficult that the four of us coincide. There are lots of good [players] coming, lots of people who can replace us, people who are better than us, and they can get better. For us to be in a Davis Cup is going to be very difficult." Ferrer added that his main goal in 2012 was to qualify for the Olympics.
Costa said that he's going take a week off to consider his position. "I'm going to think about whether I should stay or not. The first thing is that I need to talk to the president of the Spanish Tennis Federation, and then I will make a decision. I think that it has been a great effort for three years, and I have enjoyed it." Former Roland Garros champion Carlos Moya is said to be a candidate for the spot.
Manolo Santana, a Spanish former Grand Slam champion, wrote in El Mundo: "We still have what it takes to keep fighting for the title but the reality is that I have doubts about what is going to happen now to the national team."
Emilio Sanchez-Vicario, who captained Spain to victory over Argentina in the 2008 final in Mar del Plata, added that it's time to make change, saying that Nicolas Almagro and Marcel Granollers could lead the team. "It's clear that the tour has changed and players reach the top later in their careers," wrote Sanchez-Vicario in El Mundo."This also allows them to stay around for longer which means this current team has a longer shelf life."
However, Sanchez added that he wasn’t terribly impressed by 23-year-old players Albert Ramos and Pere Riba, or anyone else until the 1993 generation that includes19-year-old Javi Marti. "They are the players who will have to come in and replace the previous two generations," he said.