MADRID, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish doubles pairing of Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez defeated their Ukrainian opponents of Sergiy Stakhovski and Denys Molchanov 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 this Saturday in the Caja Magica I Madrid to give Spain an unassailable 3-0 lead in their David Cup tie and assure Spain' s position in the World Group of the tennis team competition.
The win follows on from the wins of Nadal and Fernando Verdasco in Friday' s two singles rubbers and the Spanish have shown their superiority over their Ukrainian rivals.
There was a surprise in the Spanish doubles line up as it was Nadal and not Tommy Robredo who was named to partner Lopez. Nadal had said before the match that he was tired, but would do what he was asked to help the team and it seems as if Spain captain, Alex Corretja had taken the US Open winner at his word.
Spain got off to a perfect start as they broke the first two Ukrainian serves of the first set to race into a 4-0 lead, before going on to win the first set 6-2.
If the Spanish were expecting an easy time, however, they were to be surprised as the Ukrainian par fought back to win the second set on a tie-break. At least it guaranteed better value for money for the paying fans after Nadal had criticized high ticket prices after his win over Stakhovski on Friday.
The Spanish won the third set 6-3 and a service break in the seventh game of the fourth set to set up the overall win with the remaining games going with serve to ensure the Spanish remain in the elite o world tennis and to make Sunday' s two rubbers irrelevant.