Rafael Nadal will not be part of the Spanish Davis Cup team in 2012 as he focues on defending his Olympic singles title in London 2012.
Nadal has been part of four Davis Cup winning teams but he will not be part of the Spanish side next year as they attempt to win a sixth title.
It's a big blow for his fans and team-mates alike but Nadal insisted that it is a necessary move to give him the best chance of winning a second Olympic gold medal on the lawns of SW19 next August.
Spain still have a formidable outfit with world number five David Ferrer committed to the competition next year and Fernando Verdasco, Feliciano Lopez and Juan Carlos Ferrero would all easily get into virtually any other side.
However the psychological impact on the opposition of having Nadal in the team cannot be underestimated particularly when the tie is on clay. The world number two has not lost a singles rubber since he was a teenager back in 2004 and if he hadn't been present against Argentina this weekend, the result may well have been very different.
Spain begin their 2012 Davis Cup campaign against Kazakhstan from 10th-12th February. The Kazakhs may have pulled off some shock wins over the past eighteen months, stunning Switzerland among other sides but it's hard to see them standing any chance against the likes of Ferrer and Verdasco on Spanish clay.
