Serbian world no. 2 Novak Djokovic and world no. 10 Spaniard Fernando Verdasco are leading their respective counties in the Davis Cup World Group quarter-finals. Serbia, a first-time quarter-finalist will take on the two-time defending champion Spain. 

France hosts Spain on indoor hard courts in Clermont-Ferrnad stadium. World no. 17 Gael Monfils leads the French challenge and will be playing the opening match on Friday against Spanish no. 2 David Ferrer. On the other hand, Michael Llodra and Verdasco will be playing against each other in the second singles match of the day.

Feeling a bit confident before the match, Monfils quoted, “it will be a tough match, David is a tough opponent. Of course, the crowd will help me and that might be the key in tough moments.” On the other hand flamboyant Verdasco, who will play both singles and doubles, said: “I’m ready to play for my country and try to play my best tennis and try to give them all the points I will play. Llodra is an unbelievable player on this kind of surface. He puts a lot of pressure on the opponent, he won in Eastbourne, he won in Marseille, and so I know it’s going to be a very tough match.”

Three-time runner-up Argentina will take on the two-time former champion Russia at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow. World no. 6 Nikolay Davydenko will lead the Russian charge and he will be playing the Argentine David Nalbandian in the opening match on Friday. Mikhail Youzhny will play Leonardo Mayer in the second match. 

When asked about Mayer, Youzhny said, “I’ve never played against him, but he’s had some good results, he’s beaten a lot of good players and he’s really dangerous.” He further added,: “I don’t think about these statistics. I could say we were just lucky. But this is a new match, a new statistic, so I think the players don’t need to think about this, we have to be ready to have a tough match.”

Croatian Marin Cilic will play host to a Djokovic-led Serbia to secure a place in the semi-finals. Last year, Croatia lost to the Czech Republic in the semi-final. In 2005, Croatia earned its maiden team trophy by registering an emphatic victory over Slovak Republic. Djokovic will be playing against Ivan Ljubicic. The world no. 2 and recent Wimbledon semi-finalist Djokovic said, “Serbian tennis has experienced a great success in the past three years. So far this has been the best achievement we’ve had as a nation in this sport. So we don’t feel big pressure, but we do have the responsibility of carrying the hopes of the nation. We have a very good team, with the good quality that can challenge any team in the world.” 

Croatian No. 1 Marian Cilic will be playing Viktor Troicki in the second singles match and he believes that the indoor hard court, will suit him well. “I play pretty good in general on hard court and I believe here in Croatia we picked the best surface for us. I believe I’m the best on it and I’m going to give my best performance from tomorrow onwards.”

Chile will be playing in front of its home crowd and will try to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 1976. Chile faces 2009 runner-up Czech Republic. World no. 94 Jan Hajek leads the Czech team. The second match will be played between Paul Capdeville and Hajek.