Kyle Edmund accuses Spain of gamesmanship ahead of Davis Cup semi as Lopez is brought in ten minutes before start
KYLE EDMUND accused Spain of gamesmanship ahead of the Davis Cup semi-finals.
Spanish reserve Feliciano Lopez was brought into face the British No1 only TEN minutes before the start of their opening singles rubber in Madrid.
Pablo Carreno Busta had been selected to face Edmund when the original teamsheets were handed in.
Yet according to the ITF he pulled out with a left leg injury following an evaluation by an independent doctor.
British No3 Edmund went on to beat the late call-up Lopez 6-3 7-6 but expressed his disappointment at the attempt to unsettle him.
The 24-year-old said: “I found out five minutes before.
“Busta came to warm up on the bike for two minutes, and then he left.
“I said straightaway: ‘Something is a bit weird there.’
“I think they knew what was going on but they just sort of went to the rules, they could do that.
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“On paper maybe they didn’t do anything wrong.
“But if you say about this spirit, it’s professional sport, this is why we always talk about these things.
“It happens in football, little mind games. But once it’s done, it’s done.”