Fernando Verdasco won the Davis Cup for Spain on Sunday, beating Argentina’s Jose Acasuso 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 to give his country a third title after 2000 and 2004 and deny the hosts a first.
Verdasco’s success in 3 hours, 56 minutes gave the Spanish, shorn of the services of injured world No. 1 Rafael Nadal, a winning 3-1 lead.
“It’s like a dream come true — it’s the most beautiful day of my life,” Verdasco said. “It’s a nice sensation. It’s a great day for all the people in Spain.”
PHOTO: AFP
Argentina had been hoping to land their first ever triumph in the competition after final losses away from home in 1981 against the US and Russia two years ago — but Verdasco produced a fighting performance against a partisan crowd to secure the “salad bowl” for the Spanish.
A thumping drive on his third match point wrapped up the win for Verdasco against a cramping opponent who ran out of steam after going two sets to one ahead and the Spaniard pumped his fists, then embraced his squadmates as the home crowd looked on aghast.
Spanish skipper Emilio Sanchez Vicario paid tribute to his Verdasco.
“It was an incredible match — all the guys were so nervous. Fernando was just the better player — he’s very strong,” Sanchez Vicario said.
Acasuso said the defeat was hard to take.
“There was a lot of sadness in the locker room after the loss and the fact that three of the four of us lost to Russia two years ago means that the pain was double,” he said.
Sunday’s match was to have pitted up-and-coming Argentine star Juan Martin del Potro against David Ferrer but the former had to cry off after suffering a groin strain during his opening-day loss to Feliciano Lopez while Ferrer was shellshocked by Friday’s drubbing at the hands of David Nalbandian.
Acasuso, a 26-year-old from Buenos Aires with only three minor career titles to his name, almost became a Davis Cup hero when he took Russia’s Marat Safin to five sets in the decisive rubber during the 2006 final.
But once again he was unable to last the distance.
Verdasco, a 25-year-old from Madrid with two career titles, made a tremendous start and did his best to dampen down the raucous 11,000 home crowd as he broke to love for a 4-2 lead before a wide forehand from his rival clinched the opening set in 35 minutes.
The Spaniard promptly suffered an attack of the jitters, twice double-faulting as he gifted Acasuso a 2-0 lead in the second set and the Argentine then held to streak 3-0 clear.
A further pair of double faults almost cost Verdasco dear but he just held for 2-4.
There followed a run of breaks as Verdasco forced the tiebreak, where Acasuso was fastest out of the blocks to level the contest.
Verdasco had pulled off a momentous showing on Saturday alongside Lopez to see off Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri in the doubles to bring Spain to the brink of another title which many had thought beyond them in the injury absence of Nadal.
The protagonists had split the opening-day singles with Lopez stunning No.1 Argentine Del Potro after Nalbandian had crushed Ferrer.
Worryingly for Argentina, in the last 36 years of Davis Cup finals, only three times had the doubles victors not gone on to win the title.
But Acasuso was not dwelling on that statistic and it was Verdasco who was feeling the heat as yet another double fault saw him drop serve at the start of the third set with Acasuso pounding down a slew of big forehands.
The pair traded breaks but Acasuso seized the moment as he belted down an ace before a confident overhead smash set up set point — which he netted and then drove wide on his second opportunity.
Third time round an ace finally moved him a set clear.
Verdasco pocketed a break for a 4-2 lead in the fourth, then served out to love to force a decider, where he broke twice in quick succession to race 4-0 clear.
The hard work done, he let slip two chances before completing the win on his third match point.
The New Taipei Kings claimed the inaugural Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) championship on Sunday, defeating the Kaohsiung FamilyMart Aquas 108-89 in the final. Playing at home, the Kings pulled ahead with Jeremy Lin’s (林書豪) clutch three-pointers, securing their victory over the Aquas in the TPBL final. The Kings came out strong in the first quarter, dominating to build a 35-18 lead. By halftime, they had stretched their advantage to 61-38. In the third quarter, the Aquas narrowed the deficit to 12 points, but Lin stepped up, sinking several tough three- pointers to extend the lead. In the final quarter, the Kings pushed the
In an unlikely Ethiopian outpost of one the most French of pastimes, four men are leaning over their petanque balls, arguing over who is winning. Petanque, the bowling game also known as boules, is more readily associated with French village squares where locals launch metal balls at a jack while enjoying an afternoon drink, but for decades, it has also been a beloved pastime for members of a club near the iconic Meskel Square in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. It was founded in the early 20th century to cater to French railway workers, who built a line connecting Addis Ababa
Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Australian teenager Maya Joint on Tuesday eased into the Eastbourne Open quarter-finals in England as Hsieh prepares for the Wimbledon Championships next week. Four-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Hsieh and 19-year-old Joint fired two aces and converted five of eight break points to defeat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Poland’s Katarzyna Piter 6-3, 6-3 in 58 minutes on the grass court. Hsieh and Joint are today to face fourth seeds Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who advanced on Monday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Quinn Gleason of the US and
BEAT THE HEAT: A brutal heat wave in the US has made cooling breaks standard. Dortmund’s coach said the weather could shape the destiny of the tournament Chelsea on Tuesday beat Esperance of Tunisia 3-0 to set up a FIFA Club World Cup last-16 tie against SL Benfica, who earlier defeated Bayern Munich 1-0, as furnace-link heat and the threat of thunder and lightning wreak havoc at the tournament. Elsewhere, minnows Auckland City claimed a memorable draw against Boca Juniors, while Los Angeles bowed out of the tournament with a stalemate against Flamengo. In Charlotte, Andreas Schjelderup scored the only goal for Benfica in their Group C clash with Bayern in front of 33,287 fans, finishing first-time from a cutback by his fellow Norwegian Fredrik Aursnes in the 13th
RSS