CROATIA TO FACE SPAIN IN DAVIS CUP

Defending champion Croatia will meet Rafael Nadal’s Spain in the first edition of the revamped Davis Cup Finals in November. Russia also was drawn into the same three-nation group for the inaugural 18-team tournament that will be played in Madrid. Thursday’s draw for the six groups also pitted the United States against Italy and Canada, while France — a finalist the last two years — will play against Japan and Serbia, which is likely to be without top-ranked Novak Djokovic, a critic of the tournament’s new format. The revamped competition was developed in a partnership between the International Tennis Federation and Kosmos, an investment group founded by Spanish soccer player Gerard Pique. Pique said Nadal has already committed to the new tournament, but it remains unclear which other top players will participate. Djokovic said the competition would conflict with the ATP Cup, a newly created team competition. /