Spain heads into Davis Cup without Nadal

MARBELLA, Spain, July 9 (UPI) -- Fernando Verdasco and Tommy Robredo have been listed as Spain's singles players against Germany in a Davis Cup quarterfinal in Spain.

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal, who played for Spain last year, remains sidelined with knee problems but Spain's team is still considered strong with Verdasco ranked No. 9 and Robredo 14th in the world.

Spain will also send the doubles team of Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez against Germany.

The best-of-five Davis Cup quarterfinal is to be played on an outdoor clay court.

Friday's singles have Verdasco opening against Andreas Beck, who is ranked 51st in the world and is making his Davis cup debut. The second singles match Friday has Robredo playing world No. 29 Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Germany's doubles team is Nicolas Kiefer and Mischa Zverev, which plays Saturday. Sunday's schedule calls for Verdasco to meet Kohlschreiber and Robredo to go against Beck.

Spain takes a 15-series home winning streak into this weekend's play. Germany has a 9-5 Davis Cup record against Spain but the Spaniards have won three of the last four meetings, including a quarterfinals win a year ago.

The Germany-Spain winner advances to the semifinals against the winner of a series between Israel and Russia.