Spain Secures Doubles Victory
Spain have finally won a Davis Cup by BNP Paribas doubles rubber, and what an
important one it could prove to be! Tommy Robredo and Rafael Nadal beat
Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra in five sets to give Spain a 2-1 lead going
into the final day of their semifinal against France in the Alicante bullring.
The doubles has always proved a problem for Spain. One of the keys in turning
a squad of impressive singles players into a team that could win the Davis
Cup in 2000 was the discovery of an effective doubles team, the buccaneering
Juan Balcells complimenting the subtle and cerebral skills of Alex Corretja.
Since then Spain have again had difficulty winning on Saturdays, and came
into this semifinal with defeats in their last four doubles. But in Nadal and
Robredo, the Spaniards have, if not a great pair, at least a good one, which
seems to be going from strength to strength. They are a nice blend of the
calm Robredo, and the intensely competitive Nadal, who is still only 18 and
bounced about the court, whipping himself and the crowd into a frenzy
whenever he and Robredo hit an important shot.
Though they have played well in nine tournaments on the ATP tour, winning the
title in Chennai and reaching the US Open semifinals, they had not won a
Davis Cup doubles together until this 76(4) 46 62 26 63 triumph. And they
were assisted before the match began by the withdrawal of Fabrice Santoro.
The Frenchman, who with Llodra has won two Australian Open titles, woke up to
find his left wrist so sore he could hardly hold a racket. He played his
unfinished singles against Juan Carlos Ferrero to a conclusion, Ferrero
taking the three games he needed to win 63 61 16 63, but then announced he
would have to miss not only the doubles but at least three weeks of the tour.
That turned a doubles in which the French were favourites into a genuine 50:50,
and it proved a match of fluctuating fortunes.Though the French broke Robredo
to lead 5-3 first set, the Spaniards bounced back to take it on the tiebreak,
Nadal proving an immense presence at the net. Robredo's serve was proving the
Spaniards' Achilles heel, and he was broken twice in the second set as the
French levelled the match.
The third saw a flurry of breaks from 2-1, Spain breaking three times to take
the set 62. When they opened up a 2-0 lead in the fourth, they seemed to have
the match under control, but Llodra and Clement then played their best tennis
of the match to reel off six straight games and take the match into a
deciding set.
Though Clement was broken in the second game of the final set, the following
game on the Robredo serve proved crucial. The French had two break points to
get back, but when the marathon game went to the Spaniards, French resistance
faded, and Spain won in three and three-quarter hours. Robredo said after the
match: "I think we've been playing well all year and it would have been
unfair on us not to have won the point here. We're doing a great job on the
ATP and we did well at the US Open, so we're in good shape. I'm just happy to
be in the team, but if they need us we're going to be there."
Assuming Spain win one of the two remaining singles, Robredo and Nadal will
be there in December's final, presumably against the USA's Bryan twins. But
before then, both captains need to decide who to play in the first reverse
singles of this semifinal. For Jordi Arrese, the decision is probably simple
assuming Carlos Moya has suffered no ill-effects from his five-sets defeat to
Paul-Henri Mathieu on Friday, while Guy Forget has to pick one of Clement and
Llodra to take on Moya.
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