Nadal guides Spain into cup final
Rafael Nadal won his singles and doubles in leading Spain to a 2-1 comeback win over Britain to put the hosts back in the Davis Cup final yesterday.
Nadal and Feliciano Lopez defeated Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski 7-6 (3) 7-6 (8) in the decisive doubles to secure Spain their first final since 2012.
Spain, a five-time champion, will play first-time finalist Canada in the climax of the revamped Davis Cup today.
‘‘It was an exciting match, almost dramatic,’’ Nadal said. ‘‘We played at a high level. We knew the victory would come if we played with determination and hope.’’
Kyle Edmund gave Britain the lead with a 6-3 7-6 (3) win over Lopez in the first singles, then Nadal evened the semifinal by cruising past Daniel Evans 6-4 6-0 for his 28th straight Davis Cup singles victory. The top-ranked Nadal has won all six of his matches the past week.
In the doubles, Spain prevailed in both tiebreakers before a boisterous home crowd after Britain squandered four set points in the second set, including three in the tiebreaker. Spain converted on their second match point.
‘‘The crowd was amazing,’’
Nadal said. ‘‘It’s hard to describe the feeling of playing in a team competition in front of our fans on this court. It was incredible.’’
Canada reached their maiden final in 106 years of playing the Davis Cup after Vasek Pospisil and Denis Shapovalov beat Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev 6-3 3-6 7-6 (5) in another decisive doubles match.
Rublev put the Russians ahead defeating Pospisil 6-4, 6-4 in the first singles, and Shapovalov evened the tie by downing Khachanov 6-4 4-6 6-4.
In the doubles, the Canadians trailed 3-0 in the third-set tiebreaker but rallied and converted their second match point. ‘‘Today was an incredible match,’’ Pospisil said.
‘‘I mean, the doubles, just with the buildup, obviously getting to this moment the last five days, I mean, it took a lot of emotions even just to get to this match.
‘‘It’s pretty incredible to make the finals, first time in history for Canada.’’
Pospisil and Shapovalov have played all of the matches for Canada, who won Group F by defeating former champions Italy and the United States, then eliminated another former champion Australia in the quarterfinals. They had never previosuly beaten the US or Australia in the Davis Cup.