Rafael Nadal on the friendly clayl/AP Photo by Manu Fernandez
Rafael Nadal ended his slump in grand style with an impressive straight-sets victory in the first singles match of the Davis Cup finals, and Spain captain Alberto Costa looked like a genius for his choice of his other singles player as Spain took a 2-0 lead on Friday.
The Spaniards need only to win one of the three remaining matches to claim their second straight Davis Cup. They can clinch it with a victory in Saturday's doubles match.
Nadal had lost four straight matches coming into the opening match of the Davis Cup finals on Friday in Barcelona. Nadal, who wore yellow sneakers, yellow wrist bands and a red and yellow headband, was a bit shaky at the start, but dominated the final two sets in a 7-5, 6-0, 6-2 victory over Tomas Berdych that gave Spain a 1-0 victory.
Costa surprised some people by choosing David Ferrer as Spain's other singles player over Fernando Verdasco, who is ranked No. 9 in the world, nine spots ahead of Ferrer.
And Costa's choice was suspect after Radek Stepanek easily won the first two sets against Ferrer in the second singles match of the day.
But Ferrer made an amazing comeback in front of the partisan crowd in Barcelona to pull off the 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 8-6 victory in a match that lasted 4 hours and 17 minutes on the slow clay.
Verdasco will play doubles on Saturday in a critical match that would give Spain the victory with a win.
See also:
NADAL MUST END SLUMP FOR SPAIN TO WIN
WAS SERENA WILLIAMS' PENALTY APPROPRIATE?
NEWSPAPER REPORTS AUSTRALIAN TENNIS OFFICIAL UPSET SERENA NOT BANNED FROM AUSSIE OPEN
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA TENNIS NOTES
DAVYDENKO PASSES RODDICK IN RANKINGS WITH WIN
(See Wednesday slide show here.)
FEDERER LOSES MATCH BUT ADVANCES
FEDERER CLINCHES NO. 1 RANKING FOR 2009
NADAL'S CHANCE OF FINISHING NO. 1 SLIPPING AWAY
FEDERER, NADAL PLAY FOR NO. 1 IN LONDON
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