体坛英语新闻：No shortage of talent on Spanish Davis Cup squad

VANCOUVER, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Despite missing four of his top-ranked singles players, Spanish captain Alex Corretja is confident his squad has what it takes to get by Canada in their Davis Cup tie starting Friday in the west coast city.

"We' re not thinking about the guys who are not here, we' re thinking about the guys that are here," said the Spaniard Tuesday in Vancouver during a press conference. "We know how these guys can play and that' s why we' re very convinced of our chances knowing that Canada is a very strong team, but we're going to go out there and play."

Since 2000 when Corretja as a player helped Spain win the first of its five Davis Cups, the country has been a powerhouse in men' s tennis. The International Tennis Federation currently ranks Spain No. 1 ahead of the Czech Republic, the country that beat them in last year' s Davis Cup.

However, going into Canada the Spaniards are without star players Rafael Nadal (world No. 5) and David Ferrer (No. 4), in addition to Nicolas Almagro (No. 11) and Fernando Verdasco (No. 24). All are either injured or skipping the first round of the World Group (top 16) tie.

The team' s top-ranked player is world No. 34 Marcel Granollers. Rounding out the Spanish squad is Albert Ramos (No. 51), Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (No. 82) and doubles specialist Marc Lopez, ranked third in the world.

"We' re here to try to win for sure," said Corretja of his squad. "We know how difficult it is going to be, but we are 100 percent convinced about our chances and we know that some of our best ranking players are not here, but fortunately we' ve got lots of players in Spain where we can pick and they' re eager to play and they are very motivated."

One player on the No. 12-ranked Canadians that could give the Spanish problems is Milos Raonic. The towering 22-year-old is ranked world No. 15 and he won Canada' s only point in Davis Cup World Group first-round play last year when the hosts fell 4-1 to France.

The Ontario native, who has won three times on the ATP Tour over the past two years, has recently become very familiar with the Spanish playing style after training in the country.

"For me, he' s one of the most talented players on the tour right now, probably he' s going to be top 10 very soon," said Corretja of Raonic. "I think that it' s good that he' s there (in Spain). He' s in a different country with a different mentality and (he' s) a very good player."

The Canada team also includes youngster Vasek Pospisil (No. 127), Frank Dancevic (No. 165) and 40-year-old Daniel Nestor, currently the world No. 4 ranked doubles player.

With Granollers currently fifth in the doubles ranking, it is a given Corretja will team him with Lopez for a match-up against Nestor and a player to be named for Saturday' s doubles competition.

Corretja, who rose to as high as world No. 2 and was twice the French Open runner-up, added he had faith in his team because of the depth in Spanish players and the country' s tradition of winning. With Garcia-Lopez added to the team last week as a late replacement for Almagro, the Spanish captain thanked his players for getting to Vancouver following last week' s Australian Open.

"These guys here they' ve been playing very well on the tour, and I think many countries in the world would love to have this team that I have right now," he said.

"At the same time, it' s never easy to have players in front of you where they' ve been playing a lot and you' ve never had the chance, and these guys are (No.) 50 in the world, 60 in the world, top 10 in the world in doubles, so they are very good players. In another country, as I said, for sure they will be all the time they would be playing Davis Cup."