Djoker might miss tie

Djokovic, who won his first US Open title in New York on Monday, arrived in Belgrade on Thursday and missed the draw which pitted him against David Nalbandian in the first match.

“We have a serious team of experts investing every effort to make sure Novak recuperates and I am quite confident he will be ready on Friday because he is the kind of player who doesn’t need much time to recover,” Obradovic told a news conference.

Janko Tipsarevic takes on Juan Martin Del Potro in Friday’s second singles.

Serbia’s Nenad Zimonjic and Viktor Troicki -- who will stand in for Djokovic if the world number one fails to recover from jetlag and fatigue -- meet Juan Ignacio Chela and Juan Monaco in Saturday’s doubles, with the reverse singles on Sunday.

The Serbs won their first Davis Cup title last year with a 3-2 win over France in the Belgrade Arena, where they are undefeated as a team while Djokovic, who has only lost two matches on the ATP tour this year, also has a perfect singles record.

The 24-year old Belgrader also won the 2011 Australian Open and Wimbledon titles as he leapt over Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to the pinnacle of the rankings.
Meanwhile, Nadal will play France’s Richard Gasquet in the opening singles rubber, it was decided at Thursday's draw.

Nadal’s participation in the best-of-five tie on clay in Cordoba had been in doubt after he lost a gruelling US Open final to Djokovic on Monday.

However, after flying straight back to Spain to join team-mates David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez, he said he did not feel physically drained and was ready to help his country as they bid for a third title in four years.

Nadal has beaten 15th-ranked Gasquet in all nine matches they have played on the ATP Tour and it will be their first meeting in the Davis Cup.

Spanish world number five David Ferrer plays Gilles Simon, the number 11, in Friday’s second singles rubber and Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco are due to meet Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Saturday’s doubles match.

As hosts, Spain have chosen to play the tie on their favoured red dust and with clay king Nadal playing they are firm favourites to advance to December’s final, where they would meet champions Serbia or Argentina.