OVIEDO, Spain (AP)—Former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero will begin Spain’s Davis Cup defense against Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan on Friday in a Davis Cup first-round series.
Eleventh-ranked Nicolas Almagro plays Andrey Golubev in the second singles match as Spain is without the players who secured its fifth title in December, including Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer.
Spain’s Marcel Granollers will partner rookie Marc Lopez in Saturday’s doubles against Evgeny Korolev and Yuriy Schukin.
Almagro plays Kukushkin and Ferrero will face Golubev in Sunday’s reverse singles on indoor clay in the first ever meeting between the two nations.
Nadal, Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco have helped Spain win three titles since 2008.