Rafael Nadal all set for comeback, included in Spain's Davis Cup squad

World number two Rafael Nadal has been named in Spain's squad for their Davis Cup World Group quarter-final against Germany in Valencia next month.

The 31-year-old has not played in the competition since helping five-time winners Spain return to the top tier of world tennis with victory in India in 2016.

Nadal was named in captain Sergi Bruguera's team alongside Pablo Carreno Busta, Roberto Bautista Agut, David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez.

Nadal, 16-times Grand Slam champion, withdrew from the Australian Open in January after reaching the last eight due to an upper quad problem. He had been expected to return at the Mexican Open at the end of February, but missed his fifth tournament in a row.

The Davis Cup quarter-finals take place over the weekend of April 6-8.

Federer to skip clay
Earlier, twenty-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer decided to not feature in this year's French Open, confirming that he would skip the whole of the clay-court season.

The Swiss tennis star's decision to not go for the 21st Major comes after he slumped to a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) defeat to Australian qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round of the ongoing Miami Open.

As a result, Federer, who had been the oldest number one in the men's rankings, will lose his top spot to long-time rival Nadal when the updated ATP Rankings will be release on April 2. However, Federer confirmed that he would not be playing to retain his numero-uno spot any time soon, missing the clay-court season for the second year in a row.

"Yeah, I decided not to play. I didn't play great last week either, I felt, overall. Nothing new, in my opinion. I'm trying to figure things out. So, I have time now," the ATP quoted Federer, as saying.

Federer further insisted that though he is a positive thinker, he is quite disappointed with the way things went in the past few weeks. 

'I'm a positive thinker. I feel like every match is another opportunity. Especially after losing one, clearly I'm down right now. I'm disappointed. I'm frustrated a little bit that I couldn't find a way. It's unfortunate how it goes," he said.

Last year, Federer won back-to-back tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami Open before taking a break from a clay-court campaign. He returned in mid-June at the grass court tournament in Stuttgart, losing the first match there before clinching victories at Halle and Wimbledon.