U.S. down 2-0 to Spain in Davis Cup
SEVILLE, Spain (AP) – With drums pounding and a brass band playing, Andy Roddick and his U.S. teammates were reduced to silence Friday in the Davis Cup final. The Americans lost the opening two singles matches, falling into a big hole while Spain moved into commanding position to win the title for the second time.
Rafael Nadal defeated the second-ranked Roddick 6-7 (6), 6-2, 7-6 (6), 6-2 after Carlos Moya opened by beating Mardy Fish 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.
“It was crazy,” Roddick said. “It was unlike anything I’ve experienced before.”
Fish, an inexperienced clay-court player, likened the atmosphere to a college football game.
“This was definitely the closest thing to it that we have in tennis, I’m sure of that,” he said.
Spain, whose lone title came at home in 2000 over Australia, needs one more victory in the best-of-five series. The Americans have won the Davis Cup a record 31 times, but have not captured the premier team event in men’s tennis since Pete Sampras led a 1995 victory.
Only one team in Davis Cup history has come back from a 2-0 deficit to win the championship – Australia in 1939 over the United States.
“We know our backs are against the wall,” U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe said. “There’s no big mystery of what we need to do.”
Spain can clinch the Davis Cup on Saturday if Nadal and Tommy Robredo beat twins Bob and Mike Bryan in doubles. The brothers are 4-0 in Davis Cup play and have not lost a set.
Nadal was sensational on the slow, red clay. He combined power on his sweeping left-handed groundstrokes with touch on repeated drop shots, prompting Roddick to applaud with his racket.
“I had cramps at one point but I got through it,” Nadal said.
Asked if he were ready to play Sunday, he replied: “Right now, I’m not. I’m really beat. But I think I’ll be ready.”
Attendance was 27,200, a record for a sanctioned tennis match. The old mark was set in 1954 in Sydney, Australia, when 25,578 watched the United States defeat Australia in the Davis Cup final.
The crowd was a blanket of red and yellow. Just off courtside was a 10-piece brass band named “The Spanish Armada.” Fans wore overcoats and some sat under umbrellas. The court is under cover but fringe areas are exposed to open air. The band, however, provided the heat.
Nadal, 18, became the second-youngest player to win a singles match in a Davis Cup final – Boris Becker was slightly younger. Nadal paid tribute to the crowd, which made a tennis match seem like a Real Madrid soccer game.
“This has certainly been the match of my life,” Nadal said.