Defending champions Spain will be without Rafael Nadal and his three team-mates who won last year’s Davis Cup when they take on Kazakhstan in this season’s first round, the Spanish tennis federation said on Monday.

World No.11 Nicolas Almagro, Marcel Granollers (26), Juan Carlos Ferrero (47) and 29-year-old debutant Marc Lopez (41 in doubles) were selected by Davis Cup captain Alex Corretja for the February 10-12 match-up in Oviedo, north Spain.

Spain won the 2011 Davis Cup when Nadal, David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco teamed up to beat Argentina 3-1.

Nadal and Ferrer said after that victory that they were going to concentrate on their individual careers in 2012.