Eurosport - Sat, 22 Nov 13:18:00 2008
Feliciano Lopez levelled the Davis Cup final for Spain by coming from behind to beat Argentine number one Juan Martin Del Potro 4-6 7-6 7-6 6-3 in Mar del Plata.
Lopez was forced to withstand a barrage of winners from Del Potro in the first set but held his nerve to produce two brilliant tiebreak performances before closing out the match when an injured Del Potro ran out of steam.
The first set was all Argentina as Del Potro secured the first break of the match in the fifth game when Lopez tried a series of ill-advised drop shots - none of which were successful.
The one break proved enough to see Del Potro through to the first set and the Argentina must have thought they were well on their way to their first Davis Cup title when their man took a one set lead with an ace down the T.
But Lopez found his feet early in the second set and stuck with Del Potro despite the home crowd becoming increasingly vocal and disobeying the umpires request for silence on numerous occasions.
Despite the partisan crowd though, it was Lopez, and not Del Potro, who held his composure the better in the second set tiebreak and the Spaniard quickly levelled the match when the Argentine slapped a forehand return of serve wide.
The third set was almost a carbon copy of the second with both men holding comfortably, for the most part, to force a second tiebreak.
This time though it was Del Potro who made the better start to the breaker, riffling a backhand passing shot down the line on the way to a 4-2, mini-break lead at the change of ends.
But a lapse in concentration from the Argentine allowed Lopez to work his way back into the breaker, winning four straight points to earn himself two set points.
One was all that was needed though and Lopez took a two sets to one lead by firing an ace straight down the T.
The start of the fourth set was again very even, but Del Potro's body language was rapidly deteriorating and two double faults in the fourth game handed Lopez the break.
Del Potro did recover briefly to break back in the next game but sustained a groin injury in the next game after stretching out on the forehand side to retrieve a wide ball. The Argentine was clearly in a lot of pain as soon as he played the shot and required an immediate injury time out.
When the match did resume, Del Potro promptly dropped his serve to leave Lopez just two games from the match.
This time Lopez held to love to cement the break and all credit to the Argentine, who produced one last effort to hold and force the Spaniard to serve out the set.
But it was all Lopez after the injury and the Spaniard quickly levelled up the final by serving out the match to love.
Comment 1 - 14 of 14
BRAVO, welldone SPAIN , many of us from Serbia were with You, so You deserve the victory.
VAMOS FELICIANO! GOOD LUCK TODAY I WISH YOU ANOTHER WIN AND SPAIN DESERVE TO BE THE BEST! A LOT CONGRATULATIONS AND THE BEST WISHES TODAY(the 3-rd WIN) FROM VESNA FROM SERBI!! !A LOT OF KISSES TO DAVID FERRER AND OF CORSE TO YOU!!!
Spain 2 Argentina 1!!!! One more to go and the Davis Cup is ours without Nadal.
Vamos Spain!!!
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Argentina deserve the SUCCESS
-o
YIPPY VAMOS LOPEZ KEEP GOING SPAIN YOU CAN DO IT LETS HOPE YOU CAN WIN THE REVERSE SINGLES AND THE DOUBLES TODAY.
ALL THE VERY BEST TO SPAIN.
ALISON.
VAMOS LOPEZ!!!
GOOD LUCK SPAİN
GO SPAAAAAAAIN !!!
Brilliant Lopez!! Well done!!!! go go Spain!!
Good luck Argentina.
this is gonna be a good one with the doubles (hopefully) proving the MOST drama.
i hope the south americans keep the cup in the western hemisphere, but the spanish side is gonna be tricky to beat for sure
its going to be really tough for spain but anything is possible although i doubt personally that they can beat argentina especially in view of it being played at home for the argentines and without nadal well its going to be mighty tough... luck they will certainly need.
Com'on Spain you all can do it and beat the all bad tempered vociferous Argentinian crowds. It's going to be really hot, sultry tough and nerve raking but not impossible. Good luck Spain.
GOOD LUCK SPAIN IN THE DAVIS CUP FINAL YOU CAN DO IT I SUPPORT YOU.
ALISON.
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