 Photographer: Sergio Carmona
Date: 19 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Sergio Carmona
Date: 19 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Sergio Carmona
Date: 19 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Sergio Carmona
Date: 19 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Sergio Carmona
Date: 19 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Sergio Carmona
Date: 19 Sep 2009 |
|
| 19 Sep 2009 - Polaris World La Torre Golf Resort - Chris Bowers - ESP v ISR | |
| Mighty Spain denies Israel even the doubles |
Sport thrives on rivalries and great contests, but occasionally the greatness of a team or player crushes the competitiveness. And that has happened here in the Spanish region of Murcia, where Spain has reached its fifth final in ten years with an emphatic 3-0 win over Israel.
The win was sealed when Feliciano Lopez and Tommy Robredo beat Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram 76(6) 67(7) 64 62 in a highly watchable match that was the pick of this semifinal’s three live rubbers. With the Israelis playing classic doubles by going to the net at every opportunity and forming a wall that the Spanish pair was forever trying to break down, there was some delightfully varied tennis that had both sets of supporters and the neutrals thoroughly enjoying the spectacle.
“It was a question of taking our opportunities,” said Robredo after the match. “The first two sets were very close, but then we played our best in the third and fourth sets.”
Difficult selection decisions ahead for Albert Costa
A sign of the strength of the Spanish team is that Spain was not only able to win without its two top-ten ranked players but both men, Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco, were there for the second day running to support their team-mates. Assuming both men are fit for December’s final at home to the Czech Republic, Spain’s captain Albert Costa will have some difficult decisions to make as at least two of Spain’s victorious team here will miss out.
Of the winning doubles team, Lopez can probably be more hopeful of his place than Robredo. He was the stronger of the two Spaniards, providing an imposing presence at the net while Robredo generally stayed at the back of the court. Lopez also forms a more convincing partnership with his childhood friend and fellow left-hander Fernando Verdasco than he does with Robredo, and for much of the match the more established Israeli pair looked the stronger partnership.
Erlich and Ram certainly looked the better unit in the first set but couldn’t press home their advantage. They had a break point at 4-3 but Ram missed his return, and as the set neared its conclusion the Spanish pair looked to be more threatening on the big points.
Israelis saved four set points to take the second
When Robredo sent a scorching backhand down the line on Spain’s second set point, the 66-minute first set had gone to the hosts. But Israel broke to love in the opening game of the second, and had three break points to lead 3-0. So often in tennis, a player or pair that fails to take a double break ends up losing its single break, and so it proved for Israel as Erlich was broken as he served for the second set. Spain bounced back, and opened up a 6-3 lead in the second tiebreak, only for Israel to save all three set points, plus a fourth at 7-6, before levelling the match after two hours and 16 minutes.
That might have been the point at which Israel would make the most of Erlich and Ram’s greater experience, but the story took a totally different direction. Spain raced to a 4-0 lead in the third, only for Israel to fight back, and the home pair was a little relieved to win the set 6-4 as the match went into its fourth hour.
In the third game of the fourth set, Erlich needed treatment on a painful shoulder as he faced break point. He and Ram saved it but were broken two points later as Spain took what proved to be the determining break of the fourth set. “That was the point that we lost the match,” said Ram afterwards, “because it took a lot of energy from us and Jonathan couldn’t serve his best, but it’s tough to beat Spain on clay, even if we were healthy.” In fact the hosts broke once more, as Israel finally ran out of steam and Spain won in three hours 46 minutes.
Afterwards Costa dedicated the victory to the young woman who died in floods caused by a torrential storm in Murcia on Wednesday afternoon. She was the sole human victim of an hour-long downpour that wrought havoc with local transport and communications – a minute’s silence was observed in her memory before the start of Friday’s first singles.
Related Links on other websites
> Información en español - RFET
> Information in Hebrew - ITA
Related Links on Daviscup.com
> Tie Information
> Scorecards and statistics from the tie
> Audio interviews from the tie
> Spain puts one foot in the final
> It's David vs Goliath - 'and we know who won that one!'
Related Audio
 Interview with Albert Costa (ESP) - day 2
Interview with Feliciano Lopez and Tommy Robredo (ESP) - day 2
Interview with captain Eyal Ran (ISR) - day 2
Interview with Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram (ISR) - day 2
 
If you cannot hear the audio, then please update your media player by following one of the links above.
|
Español
