Tennis

Nadal: U.S. should change surface

Published Apr. 20, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Rafael Nadal says he supports the Spanish federation's appeal over the United States' choice of playing surface for the Davis Cup quarterfinal.

Nadal said Wednesday the American team's choice of surface — called Indoor Hard Premiere — was unknown to him and his teammates.

The world's top-ranked player says ''if at the end (the surface) is not among the official ones, it should be ruled out or stiff fines should be applied, because for tournaments like that $50,000 is peanuts.''

The Spanish federation says the company that makes the surface is not included on the list of 91 manufacturers approved by the International Tennis Federation. The only tournament played on the surface last year was in San Jose.

The July 8-10 quarterfinal will be played in Austin, Texas.

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