Dubai: Switzerland's Marco Chiudinelli believes next week's Davis Cup tie against defending champions Spain without Roger Federer is a "mission impossible" for his country.
"It's a kind of a mission impossible for us. We all know that. I don't think it could have got any better than last year when we had to play the USA. And both the times have been without Roger [Federer].
"But what can we do? We can't just skip the week. We have to just go and try to play our best," Chiudinelli told media after bowing out in the opening round of the 2010 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships here on Tuesday.
The encounter will be held at the Plaza de Toros de la Ribera in Logrono, Spain from March 5-7. Switzerland maintained their place in the World Group after triumphing over Italy in the play-offs.
But it is Spain who lead Switzerland 4-1 in their head-to-head series with the most recent victory coming in 2007, a 3-2 win in Geneva. Switzerland actually won the first tie between the two nations in Barcelona way back in 1946 but proceeded to lose the next four.
And this time once again without the services of Federer, Chiudinelli does not see any hope, except trying to draw from the positives.
"For myself I am hoping I will be back on track so that I can play a few good matches there. And then the experience of playing on clay especially against the best players of Spain will be like a preparation for the clay court season that will come later in the year.
"It will be a good chance to wait and test your game and see what's missing. Obviously, our chances at winning are close to zero."
A regular visitor to Dubai, Chiudinelli is currently ranked No 52 and has been part of the Davis Cup squad along with Stanislas Wawrinka, Michael Lammer and Yves Allegro.
The Spanish title defence charge will be led by veteran Juan Carlos Ferrero, David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo and Marcel Granollers.
With such opponents, Chiudinelli hoped the world's best player would make a better commitment to Davis Cup.
The reigning champions have dominated Davis Cup for the last decade having been crowned champion four times, including back-to-back victories in 2008 and 2009. The Spanish team are unbeaten in 18 home ties stretching back to 1999 when Brazil was the visitor.
"We all hope that he's going to commit to the Davis Cup and it's quite obvious if he commits it would be fantastic for us as a team. Last year we were lucky he was going to play, but then he got injured.
"We hope he will be back in September as usual and then get a strong commitment from him in the future. And I'm quite confident that one day it's going to happen."
