Nadal will open for Spain against France

Ten-time Grand Slam champion and former up France.

Nadal-Gasquet will be followed by the second opening singles rubber, which will pit gritty Spaniard David Ferrer against tough Frenchman Gilles Simon on the red clay at Plaza de Toros de los Califas.

"I am a little tired, as is logical and not in tip-top form because I haven't had much time to train on clay, around 4 1/2 hours," said Nadal, who is a dominant 9-0 lifetime against Gasquet.

Saturday's doubles encounter has a Spanish tandem of Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco facing a French duo of Michael Llodra and former Australian Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, while Sunday's reverse singles currently call for the French Open champion and U.S. Open and Wimbledon runner-up Nadal to meet Simon and Ferrer to lock horns with Gasquet.

The powerful Spaniards, captained by former French Open champ Albert Costa, have won four of the last 11 Davis Cup titles, while the nine-time champion French, piloted by long-time captain Guy Forget, are seeking their first championship since 2001.

France, playing this week without its injured top star, world No. 7 Gael Monfils, was last year's Davis Cup runner-up to Serbia.

This will mark the eighth all-time meeting between these two proud tennis nations, with Spain holding a 5-2 advantage in a series that dates back to 1923.

The best-of-five winner here will meet the Argentina-Serbia victor in the 2011 Davis Cup final in December.