Former world number one and 1998 French Open champion, Carlos Moya, missed out on Spain's first and only Davis Cup success back in 2000 with a back injury. But earlier on Sunday at the Estadio Olimpico in Seville, he was the hero in a picture-perfect scenario he confessed he had dreamt many times over in the middle of the night, as he beat America's top player, Andy Roddick, 6-2, 7-6(1), 7-6(5), to give Spain an unassailable 3-1 lead in the 2004 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Final played before an estimated 27,000 partisan crowd draped in red and yellow, the largest ever gathered for a sanctioned tennis event.
[2005 World Group Draw]
Spain entered Davis Cup competition in 1921, but has only won the coveted 'Salad Bowl' twice – first in 2000 against Australia, and this year against USA.
US Davis Cup stalwart, Jim Courier, himself a former Australian, French and US Open champion, had predicted that in order for the US to win the Davis Cup, Roddick would need to win both his singles. He could not have been more spot-on, as Spain strong-armed both opening singles on Friday to take a commanding 2-0 lead, with the tie-turning point coming courtesy of 18-year-old Rafael Nadal's come-from-behind, four-set victory over the more experienced Roddick.
USA's number two, Mardy Fish, barely salvaged a tad of lost pride as he defeated Tommy Robredo in the meaningless, reverse dead rubber singles, 7-6(8), 6-2, to make the final scoreline, 3-2, look a closer than it actually was.
Moya stormed out to a quick-fire 4-0 lead, breaking the Roddick serve twice. The American managed to hold his next two but the Spanish clay master demonstrated his keenness for the surface, as he took full control of the opening set, 6-2, and with it, huge momentum going into the second. Games went with serves until midway through the second set when Roddick finally broke through the Spaniard's resistance behind some solid clay court tennis of his own but could not consolidate, with Moya dominating the ensuing tiebreak to take a massive 2-0 lead heading to the third.
Moya actually had match point as early as the tenth game in the third set, but could not convert, and had to wait until the breaker as he displayed poise and power on one of the biggest stages of world tennis to claim the tiebreak, 7-5, for a, 6-2, 7-6(1), 7-6(5), Davis Cup-clinching victory
Since making his Davis Cup debut in 1996, Moya is 20-7 in singles play, including a formidable 17-3 on clay – it only took a Gustavo Kuerten in the peak of his powers to inflict two of those losses on the Spaniard's preferred surface.
On the other hand, Roddick had not lost a set during the entire 2004 Davis Cup campaign, but the slowest of red clay being laid at Seville certainly blunted the American's arsenal, who clearly favours hardcourts. A-Rod's six double faults (and only 12 aces) didn't help his cause, but with Moya saving 7 of 8 break points against him, while converting 50% (3 out of 6) of his break-point opportunities that was to prove vital.
Scenes of jubilation erupted on court, as "King Carlos" Moya was being lifted onto his team mate's shoulders and thrown repeatedly into the freezing Seville air. Astonishingly, it was only the third time since the Final Round was established in 1972 that a nation has won the Davis Cup Final despite losing the doubles rubber, as the Spanish did on Saturday when the Bryan brothers demolished the makeshift pairing of Juan Carlos Ferrero and Tommy Robredo, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2.
Although hero of the day goes to Moya for the Cup-clinching win, teenage sensation Rafael Nadal becomes the youngest man ever to play on a Davis Cup winning team. What's more, his inclusion on the Spanish Davis Cup team was originally as only a doubles player, but he ended up winning three vital singles rubbers this year - against Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic in the fifth rubber in an away first round tie; against Arnaud Clement in the fourth rubber of the semifinal against France; and then, of course, against Andy Roddick in the final.
Although Roddick failed to win a single point for his country in the final, the world's second ranked player did manage to break the World Record for service speed during this year's Davis Cup campaign. In the first round tie against Austria in Connecticut, A-Rod delivered a 150mph (241kph) bomb against Stefan Koubek in the second singles rubber. He then broke the record twice more in Davis Cup play, serving 152 mph (245 Kph) on matchpoint against Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden in the quarterfinal, and then throwing down the mother of all serves, timed at 155mph (249kph) during the first singles rubber against Vladimir Voltchkov of Belarus in the semifinals . This 155mph delivery remains a world record on the face of this planet.
Looking ahead, one positive for the Americans is that should they face Spain again in next year's final, they will be playing at home, and the choice of a lightning-fast surface seems a foregone conclusion. The USA opens against Croatia at home during the weekend of 4-6 March 2005, while Spain entertains the Slovak Republic in an away tie during the same weekend.
Davis Cup by BNP Paribas is the largest annual international team competition in sport with 137 nations entered in 2004. The title sponsor is BNP Paribas, the Official Bank of Davis Cup.
International sponsors are Adecco (Official Recruitment), Fossil (Official Watch), Getronics (Official ICT Sponsor), Hugo Boss (Official Men's Fashion Sponsor), Kia Motors (Official Car) and NH Hoteles (Official Hotel). International partners are COLT Telecom (Official Managed Hosting Partner) and Wilson Sporting Goods (Official Ball).
Spain tops year-end ITF Davis Cup Nations Ranking
Spain holds on to the No. 1 spot in the ITF Davis Cup Nations Ranking since reaching that position for the very first time after defeating France in the semifinals in September earlier this year, while USA moves up one place to No. 4 , its highest ever ranking, despite losing to Spain in the final.
France ended up in second spot in the year-end rankings, while Australia placed third, followed by USA, Russia, Argentina, Switzerland, Belarus, Sweden, and the Netherlands, rounding out the top-ten.
The highest ranked nation from Asia is Paradorn Srichaphan's Thailand at No. 17, followed by India at No. 18, and Japan at No. 21, with all three Asian powerhouses ending 2004 ranked higher than traditionally more illustrious nations England (22) and Germany (23).
Chinese Taipei, with young guns Lu Yen-Hsun and Wang Yeu-Tzuoo spearheading their line-up, is at No. 37, while China is at No. 42. Korea, at No. 44, remains in Asia/Oceania Zone Group II after failing to gain promotion to Group I when a Lee Hyung-Taik led team fell to Zhu Ben-Qiang's China in the Group II final earler this year, with the Koreans (Lee Hyung-Taik/Chung Hee-Seok) losing the crucial doubles when leading by two sets to love and Kim Young-Jun spectacularly unable to win the fifth and deciding singles rubber against Zhu Ben-Qiang after holding a seemingly insurmountable two-set lead.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong finished 2004 ranked 54th.
Results
2004 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas
World Group Final – Spain v USA
Estadio Olimpico de Sevilla, Spain
3-5 December 2004
R-1 Carlos Moya (ESP) d. Mardy Fish (USA) 6-4 6-2 6-3
R-2 Rafael Nadal (ESP) d. Andy Roddick (USA) 6-7(6) 6-2 7-6(6) 6-2
R3 - Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA) d. Juan Carlos Ferrero/Tommy Robredo (ESP) 6-0 6-3 6-2
R4 - Carlos Moya (ESP) d. Andy Roddick (USA) 6-2 7-6(1) 7-6(5)
R5 - Mardy Fish (USA) d. Tommy Robredo (ESP) 7-6(8) 6-2
Spain d. USA 3-2
Stats & Source: www.daviscup.com