Spain's tennis federation selected Madrid's Las Ventas bullring as the site of the Davis Cup semi-final between Spain and the USA over the objections of top Spanish players, including Rafael Nadal, who prefered other locations.

Spanish players had made it clear they prefered any of the three other locations - Benidorm, Tenerife or Gijon - for their September 19-21 best-of-five series against the defending champions.

They argued that the Spanish capital's 600-metre (2,100-foot) altitude would favour the US players' faster game and accused federation president Pedro Munoz of favoring the capital city because of sponsorship money.

Earlier this week Nadal and eight other players, including Spain captain Emilio Sanchez Vicario, David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro signed an open letter vowing not to take part in any federation event as long as Munoz is its head in protest at the likely choise of Madrid.

"Our only objective is and will always be to represent Spain under the best possible conditions," the letter said.

"It is us players who play and defend the colours of our country and we feel we are the main ones to be hurt by the decisions that have been taken," it added.

Spanish media have reported that the federation is under pressure to select Madrid as the site of the Davis Cup semi-final because the city's tourist office is a key sponsor of the event through 2010.

AFP