Nadal beats Roddick, clinches tie for Spain
The USA Davis Cup team will not get a chance to defend their title, as they fell to Spain 4-1 in Madrid. After the US lost both of the singles matches on Friday, they went on to win the doubles match in five sets on Saturday to pick up one point. They then needed to win both reverse singles matches to move on. It wasn’t to be. In the first match, Nadal blew by Andy Roddick 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 to seal the deal.
Losing to Spain on clay in Madrid wasn’t unexpected. If the US would have won that tie it would have been a monumental upset, especially with the way Nadal has been playing this year and the fact that the US was without two of its best players. It will be interesting to see if Roddick, Blake, and the Bryan brothers come back and try again next year for Pat McEnroe or if a new crop of talent is introduced to the international competition.
The Spanish team will now Argentina, which snuck by Russia 3-2. After the Argentines won both singles matches on Friday, the Russians won the doubles match 8-6 in the fifth set. Davydenko then beat Nalbandian in the first reverse singles match to force it to a decisive fifth match. Juan Martin Del Potro stepped up to the challenge and beat Igor Andreev 6-4, 6-2, 6-1. Argentina will host Spain in the finals in what promises to be a very entertaining weekend of tennis, especially if Nadal and Del Potro continue to play at such a high level. Let’s just hope both guys are healthy and have enough energy to play in this contest.
