Lopez evens up Davis final by beating Del Potro

Published on Friday 21 November 2008 23:35

SPAIN pulled level with Argentina in the Davis Cup final when Feliciano Lopez surprised an ailing Juan Martin del Potro in four sets.

Argentine No1 Del Potro, already troubled by a toe injury, appeared to pull a muscle in his right leg in the sixth game of the fourth set.

After about ten minutes of treatment, he lost his serve and Lopez went on to win 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-3 to wipe out David Nalbandian's straight sets win over David Ferrer in the opening rubber.

Del Potro, ninth ranked in the world, swept through the first set in 38 minutes, and the powerful 20-year-old looked likely to carry on where Nalbandian had left off.

But Lopez, ranked 31st and chosen ahead of higher-placed Fernando Verdasco by Spain captain Emilio Sanchez Vicario, had other ideas and hit back to win the next two sets in tiebreaks after all games went with serve.

He reeled off the first tiebreak 7-2 and, in the second, came back from 2-0 behind to win four points in a row and clinch the breaker 7-4 with an ace.

With the crowd at the Polideportivo Malvinas arena increasingly quiet, Lopez continued his dominance by breaking in the fourth game of the fourth set, helped by two Del Potro double faults, to take control.

Already looking fatigued after a long season that has seen him leap from obscurity into the top ten, Del Potro managed to break back immediately but then suffered his injury in the next game. He soldiered on but Lopez wrapped up the match comfortably.

Argentina, unbeaten at home in ten years of Davis Cup matches, went into the final as firm favourites to win the competition for the first time against opponents who are missing injured world number one Rafael Nadal.

The first match went according to the script as Nalbandian thumped Ferrer 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in one hour 59 minutes to give the hosts the perfect start.

"I played well from start to finish, I was always in control of the situation and the public was incredible," Nalbandian said. "There were some moments of tension which I managed to keep under control. It was an almost perfect game."

Ferrer, who continued a poor recent run of form, said his problem was that he'd been unable to get going in the match. "David was far superior and there's nothing more to say," he said. "The court wasn't easy but it's a tennis court like any other. I didn't have good sensations during the game, I wasn't up to it."

Ferrer struggled on the fast indoor surface at the Polideportivo Malvinas arena and struggled to find an answer to Nalbandian's flowing tennis.

In the final set, Nalbandian broke in the sixth game before producing two aces to earn three match points, finishing things off with another powerful serve after winning four of the last five games.