In addition to having to decide which four players will be called up for the Davis Cup final, there is also the decision about where exactly the final is to be held. However one city has already been ruled out: Madrid.

After losing their bid to host the 2016 Olympics, Madrid was dealt another rejection by the Real Federación Española de Tenis after Madrid Tennis was informed they were being removed from consideration because of the city’s high altitude. Madrid lies 650 above sea level, and the thinner air tends to make the balls fly. Madrid’s tennis officials said they offered the federation whatever they wanted and more to try and give Madrid the chance to host the Davis Cup final, but were told by team captain Albert Costa that most of the players preferred to play on a court with a lower altitude.

The only two exceptions, naturally, are Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez, both from Madrid, who would have liked to be able to contest the final in their hometown.

“I do not care where we play, but the only one I am not going to support is Barcelona, not because I have nothing against the city, but because it has had a final before and the other cities deserve the same opportunity,” Verdasco explained. “I think it’s for the best that Madrid has withdrawn from the bid to host the final. We have had enough disappointment this week, it will be useless putting money into another competition for us to once again not get it.”

With Madrid out, the decision for where the play the Davis Cup final will be between Barcelona or Valencia, as the other candidate cities, Malaga and Tenerife were rejected because they were open-air venues. The federation will announce its final choice on Saturday.

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Nando is postponing his foot surgery to try and qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London in November. He also hopes to play in the Davis Cup final against the Czech Republic in December.

As only the top eight in the world can qualify for the Year End Finals, Nando can’t afford to miss any changes to raise his rankings. In addition to the Malaysian Open, China Open and Shanghai Masters, he will also play the Valencia Open and the Paris Masters, in order to try and earn enough ranking points to qualify. He has recovered from his abdominal injury and is postponing the surgery on his foot until the off-season.

“I was supposed to undergo surgery on my left foot after the US Open earlier this month, but when I went home to Spain, my doctor told me I will need three weeks to recuperate. If I had it done, I would not be able to make it here for the Malaysian Open.

“The doctor also told me that I can postpone the surgery as it would not affect me. My focus is to qualify for the World Finals and help Spain win the Davis Cup.”

“I want to experience the feeling of winning at home as our victory last year was celebrated in Argentina.”

Nando’s first opponent in Kuala Lumpur will be Karol Beck from Slovakia, who defeated qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin in the first round to advance. Nando got a bye in the second round, so this will be his first match back after his quarterfinal appearance at the US Open.

Here’s another gem from hcfoo, an interview where he answers some questions about a variety of things.

Be sure to go over to her blog to thank her for the great interview, and make sure you check her blog out, she’s got some great pictures of the top four seeds of the Malaysian Open (including Nando!) posing for a photoshoot in front of the Petronas Towers. Very cool!

Vamos Nando, and good luck in your first match!

Fernando was honored with the Premios Siete Estrellas del Deporte 2008 award for Best Male Athlete earlier this month. The award, which is given to outstanding athletes from Madrid, is for his performance in last year’s Davis Cup semifinal against Germany and in the final against Argentina, as well as his exceptional results the first half of the year including his spectacular run to the semifinals at the Australian Open, reaching the quarterfinals of the first five Masters events of the year (Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid) and his breakthrough into the ATP’s top ten for the first time in February.

Enhorabuena, Fer!

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Contrary to rumours, Fernando WILL be participating in the Malaysian Open next week. He’s due to arrive in Kuala Lumpur on September 28 for the ATP 250 series tournament, where he’s seeded second with a bye in the first round.

He took a break after the US Open to deal with his foot and abdominal injuries, withdrawing from last weekend’s Davis Cup semifinal against Israel. But Fernando was out in full force to cheer on the rest of the Armada, telling an interviewer that he wouldn’t miss it for anything:

“They are my teammates and my team. I couldn’t play, but I had to be here. I think we’ll win 4-1 and I’ll be the first to wildly applaud our victory. I hope to be in the final, I’m sure we’ll play and I hope by then to do what I could not do here. “

Spain, of course, did win 4-1 and so hopefully Fernando will be fit for the final, which will be played in Spain, probably on a clay court, in early December. Meanwhile, I’ve seen reports that Fernando opted to skip out on getting his foot surgery because the recovery time would’ve been up to three weeks, and because he wants to try to make the London Year-End Championships, he needs to play the three events he was scheduled for in Asia (Kuala Lumpur, Beijing and Shanghai) and so he’s back training this week. Hopefully this means his abdominal problems are healed though. If I find a reliable source, I’ll post it :) Buena suerte, Fer!

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Great news from the Spanish Davis Cup team’s official Facebook page (translated into English):

Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco will be in Murcia this weekend to support their Spanish Davis Cup team-mates in their qualifying semi-final against Israel. The news was confirmed during the draw by Jose Luis Escañuela, president of the Royal Spanish Tennis Federation, who explained that “It’s a great honour for the president of the federation and all of Spanish tennis to be able to count on such a human group of players who have created a great team and who represent Spain in a such admirable way.”

Vamos España!

Nando is suffering from injuries to his abdominal muscles and feet and won’t be competing in the Davis Cup semifinal against Israel on September 18-20.

“I have talked to Albert Costa, I told him about the problems that I am having and my feelings and he will decide. I have many physical problems with the my abdomen and foot. I don’t know how I will finish here. The Davis Cup is next week and I don’t have much time to recover,” said Verdasco.

Rafael Nadal will lead Spain’s Davis Cup team, along with David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo and Feliciano Lopez. Israel will be represented by Dudi Sela, Harel Levy, Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram for the best-of-five series.

No word on how Fernando’s injuries will affect his quarterfinals match against Novak Djokovic tomorrow.

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Hope he’s okay for the match tomorrow. I’m sad we won’t be able to see him play Davis Cup, but hopefully he’ll show up to cheer on the Armada from the stands. It’ll be a good chance for him to rest and recuperate because he’ll have three straight tournaments in Asia starting at the end of September.

Feliciano López and Fernando Verdasco have decided withdraw from the doubles draw at the U.S. Open, announcing their withdrawl a few hours before what was to be their first round doubles match against the Brazilian duo of Thomaz Bellucci and Marcos Daniel.

The pair withdrew due to back discomfort suffered by Feliciano following his first round loss to American Taylor Dent.

Fernando Verdasco said they both decided not to play so they would not risk any inconvenience to Feliciano’s back. “It is better to recover to be able to be well as soon as possible,” he said.

In two weeks, the Spanish team will play their Davis Cup semifinal against Israel in Murcia, Spain. Captain Albert Costa will likely choose Verdasco and Lopez for the doubles rubber.

(via Yahoo España)

This is definitely for the best. I think Feliciano would be gutted to have to miss Davis Cup, so pulling out of the US Open is the absolute right choice, considering how much playing Davis Cup and helping Spain get to the final will mean for both of them.

Welcome to the Verdasco News blog :) I started out providing updates on Nando’s various activities via twitter and now I’ve crossed into the blogosphere to provide even more in-depth coverage on Spain’s #2 player :) I’m still getting things set up, but there’s already some content available! I’ll be adding loads more content, in the future though, including results, biography, schedule, pictures and more, so make sure to check back regularly!

Vamos Nando!

– Lynsey