Injured David Ferrer pulls out of Davis Cup team against Russia

Madrid: David Ferrer has pulled out of Spain`s Davis Cup team for next week`s Group I tie away to Russia after failing to recover sufficiently from an elbow injury.

World number seven Ferrer, who withdrew from Wimbledon on the eve of the tournament, initially made himself available to Spain`s new captain Conchita Martinez for the July 17-19 match in Vladivostok.

However, he wrote on his Twitter feed on Friday that tests with his physio and Spanish tennis federation (RFET) doctor Angel Ruiz Cotorro had prompted his decision to pull out of the Spain team.

"I don`t know when I will be able to return to action," Ferrer wrote. "I will keep you posted."

The five-times winners, who will also be missing the likes of Rafa Nadal, Feliciano Lopez and Tommy Robredo, need a victory to have a chance of getting back into the elite World Group for next year`s competition.

Martinez announced a five-man team on Tuesday, which also includes Pablo Andujar, Daniel Gimeno-Traver, Marc Lopez and David Marrero.

Russia named the relatively little-known Konstantin Kravchuk, Evgeny Donskoy, Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov.

Nadal, Ferrer and other top Spanish players became embroiled in a dispute with the Spanish tennis federation (RFET) last year over the appointment of Gala Leon as the nation`s first female Davis Cup captain.

After weeks of upheaval at the federation, which is being investigated for alleged financial irregularities, and the naming of a new president, Leon was sacked last week.

Martinez, a former Wimbledon champion who is also Spain`s Fed Cup captain, was named to replace her until the end of the year.

She managed to bring Ferrer immediately back into the fold and suggested this week Nadal and the others would be available for the 2016 edition.