Spain Ousts U.S. from Davis Cup
S A N T A N D E R, Spain, July 22 -- — Spain ended more than three decades ofDavis Cup anguish today, reaching the final with a sweep of anAmerican squad thrown together slapdash by captain John McEnroeafter the pullout of its best players.
Alex Corretja and Juan Balcells clinched the best-of-five seriesand set off a delirious dancing celebration with a 7-6 (6), 2-6,6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3 doubles victory over Todd Martin and ChrisWoodruff that rendered Sunday’s singles matches meaningless.
Spain, a Davis Cup finalist only in 1965 and 1967, will play forits first title against Australia in Barcelona in December.
Tough Match
The U.S. pair gave everything to come back from two sets toone down and force a decider, with the 30-year-old Martinseeming to grow in strength as a fierce battle went on.
But after an immense effort to save his serve in game six ofthe fifth set, which saw him fire in two second-service aces,Martin finally began to tire in the closing stages.
Two volley errors from the lofty American set up a servicebreak for Spain in Woodruff’s next game and a decisive 5-3 leadfor the home side.
Balcells duly served out to love to clinch a superb win forSpain and a final on home soil in December against Australia,the side who beat them on their last appearance in the final inBrisbane back in 1967.
The Australians also beat Spain in Sydney in the final in1965.
“It’s a wonderful achievement for Spanish tennis,” saidhome captain Javier Duarte. “We have some superb players andwithout them we wouldn’t be in the final.”
A jubilant Corretja added: “We’re proud of ourselves forgetting to the final, which we’re determined to win it.”
Spain Lives Up to Favored Billing
Spain had been the strong favorite to win the tie given theabsence of American stars Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi and the clay courtsurface, on which few of the Americans are truly comfortable.
And the writing was on the wall for the U.S. as they lostboth Friday’s singles, Albert Costa beating an out-of-sortsMartin 6-4 6-4 6-4 and Corretja overcoming a determinedJan-Michael Gambill 1-6 6-3 6-4 6-4.
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