New 'Musketeers' fire French Davis Cup hopes

France will take on the Czech Republic in their Davis Cup first-round tie bolstered by the feeling that their team is stronger than it has been for over 75 years. Gilles Simon, Gael Monfils, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet are all either current or former top-10 players, while Michael Llodra is ranked among the best doubles players in the world. Not since the glory days of the 'Musketeers' - Henri Cochet, Rene Lacoste, Jean Borotra and Jacques Brugnon, who won every Davis Cup between 1927 and 1932 - has France been able to call upon such talent. "Apart from perhaps the Musketeers, we've never had such a strong French team on paper in our history," captain Guy Forget said. Simon and Tsonga - who won tournaments in Johannesburg and Marseille in February - are expected to get the nod for Friday's first two singles matches, with former world number seven Gasquet tipped to pair Llodra in the doubles. "I'm aware that I've got much less of a chance of playing in the singles than last year, but whatever my role is, I'll give it my all," Gasquet said. Defending champions Spain will be boosted by the return of world number one Rafael Nadal for their meeting with Serbia on his favoured clay surface in Benidorm. The Australian Open champion hasn't played since a knee injury forced him to meekly concede the final of the Rotterdam Open to Britain's Andy Murray in mid-February. "I am in good shape and cannot wait to represent my country," Nadal said on his personal website. David Ferrer is also in the Spain squad, and he could be set for a speedy reunion with Serbia's Novak Djokovic, after the world number three beat him in straight sets in the Dubai Open final on Sunday. "What I want is for the first day to end up at 1-1, as that would leave the tie wide open," Djokovic said. "I don't know if I will meet Rafael Nadal, because our match is slated for day three and there are the other matches to get through before then. "Spain are the favourites but we have come here to compete from day one." Last year's runners-up Argentina have been struck by a key withdrawal ahead of their home match against the Netherlands, after world number 14 David Nalbandian was forced to pull out due to illness. Juan Martin Del Potro had been considered as a replacement, having initially been left out due to his reluctance to switch from hard courts to clay, before captain Modesto 'Tito' Vaszquez eventually plumped for Martin Vassallo Arguello. Switzerland will be without their talisman Roger Federer when they take on the United States, as the 13-time Grand Slam winner continues to struggle with a back complaint. Meanwhile, Sweden's meeting with Israel in Malmo will be played behind closed doors, after government officials in the Swedish city - which has a large Muslim population - decided that ill-feeling towards Israel following the recent conflict in the Gaza Strip presented too great a security risk. Spain v Serbia

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