Spain Secures Doubles Victory
25 Sep 2004 -
Plaza de Toros de Alicante, Alicante, ESP - Chris Bowers - ESP v FRA
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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