12 Nov 2003 - Richard Evans
Spain's Davis Cup Finals
Davis Cup finals on grass are a rarity these days, and one doesn’t
associate Spain with the game’s original surface. But it’s not the first
time the Spaniards have been in a final on grass – this month sees their
fourth time in the concluding weekend of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas, and
the first two were both on grass, and both against – yes – Australia.
The appearance of Spain in two finals in the 1960s was almost entirely
due to one man. Manolo Santana, the ex-ball boy from Madrid who won Roland
Garros twice before capturing the US crown at Forest Hills on grass in 1965
and then, historically for Spanish tennis, Wimbledon in 1966, was the kind of
talent that all European nations yearned for in an age that saw the Davis Cup
dominated by the grass court giants, Australia and the United States.
As he had proved, Santana, with his excellent first serve, huge forehand
and delicate touch, could play on any surface, but, alas for Spanish hopes,
it was not enough. As great a player as Santana was, Roy Emerson and Fred
Stolle, backed by their own Aussie crowds, were simply too strong for anyone,
and in neither the 1965 final played at Sydney’s White City nor the 1967
final at Milton Courts in Brisbane did Santana manage to put Spain in a
winning position.
There was, however, plenty of drama surrounding both ties, both on and
off court. In the opening rubber in Sydney, a father’s anguish and
embarrassment might have turned the tables in Australia’s favour. Playing
Stolle, Santana had roared away to a terrific start, taking the first set 7-5
and the second 6-3.
At that point Stolle’s father, unable to stand the pressure, got up and
walked out of the stand. Fred saw him go and later admitted: “I felt
terrible.”But, determined to prove to his Dad that he could hack it in the
cauldron of a Davis Cup final, Stolle fought back to level at two sets all
and then, with Santana wilting a little under a burning Australian sun, Fred
saw his father returning to his seat. A desperate battle for the fifth set
ensued but Stolle pulled it out 7-5. When Stolle’s father came into the
locker room afterwards, the gangling young Aussie, who had needed to convince
Australia’s strict captain Harry Hopman that he was capable of playing at
that level, knew he had been vindicated.
“When my Dad came to congratulate me, his face was beaming with
uncontrollable pride and joy,” said Stolle. “For that one moment; that one
look of gratification on my father’s face, everything I had ever been
through was worth it.”
But the Spaniards were on their own, and when Emerson blew Juan Gisbert
off the court with his powerful serve-and-volley style, there was no way
back.In 1967, Santana created something of a stir in Australia by getting the
Spanish tennis association to hire Lew Hoad and Ken Rosewall as training
partners on the grass courts the week before the final. Open Tennis did not
arrive until the following year and there was still a huge, acrimonious gulf
between the amateurs and professionals. Hoad and Rosewall were pros, and
therefore could not play for Australia as they had done as teenage upstarts
while winning the Cup in 1953 and then again in 1956.
“Both Lew and Kenny were good friends of mine so it seemed natural to ask
them for help,” said Santana ingenuously.But the help was not enough.
Despite the introduction of a sublimely talented left hander called Manolo
Orantes, Emerson and a young John Newcombe, who would go into the record
books as two of the finest Davis Cup competitors of all time, were too
dominant on grass. Emerson crushed Santana in the opening rubber and Newcombe
disposed of an over-awed Orantes.
When Santana retired, Spanish supporters hoped that their next star, Jose
Higueras would be able to help Orantes take Spain to more Davis Cup finals.
But it was not to be. The pair never did themselves justice in their
country’s colours, and it was left to the current generation, headed by Alex
Corretja and Albert Costa, to get Spain to another final and, with the young
Juan Carlos Ferrero leading by example, finally turning the tables on
Australia at Barcelona in 2000.
Now it will be back to Australia again, in a stadium called the Rod Laver
Arena with a specially laid grass court – an edifice of such imposing design
with its sliding roof that it would have been unimaginable to Santana and his
team. But this time, victory will not seem such a distant dream.
http://www.daviscup.com/news/newsarticle.asp?id=12608
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