History
Spain competed in its first Davis Cup in 1921 but didn't reach the final round until 1965, when the team led by Jaime Bartroli lost to Australia. They reached the final again two years later but though they had great players such as Manuel Santana and Manuel Orantes, Spain lost against Roy Emerson and company again.
Spanish fans had to wait 33 years in 2000, to see their team play another Davis Cup final, but this time the Spanish team defeated the Australians in Barcelona with Juan Carlos Ferrero as national hero. But Lleyton Hewitt, who had been defeated by Ferrero three years before, had his revenge very soon, when Spain lost to Australia again in 2003.
The following year, Spain reached the final once again. It was played in Seville and for the first time ever, they didn't have to play against Australia. Their opponents were the United States, and thanks to great performances from Carlos Moyá and an 18-year-old Rafael Nadal, Spain managed to win their second Davis Cup.
Spain reached the final once again in 2008, and they won against Argentina. It was the first time that the Spanish team managed to win the final on foreign soil. Unexpectedly, the Spanish heroes were Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano López, winning one single each and the doubles partnering together. David Ferrer, then World Number 5, lost in straight sets to David Nalbandian in the only match he played in the final; and Nadal, World Number 1, was injured, and he wasn't able to play in Argentina.
After winning the Davis Cup for the third time, Emilio Sánchez stepped down as captain to allow compatriot Albert Costa take his place. Second-seeded Spain cruised to their seventh Davis Cup final after home victories against Serbia, Germany and Israel, even though Costa struggled to make a team as Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco missed two ties each. Spain played the Czech Republic, which previously managed to eliminate first-seeded Argentina. The final was held in home ground again, where they hadn't lost a tie since 1999. Spain swept the Czechs 5–0 behind great performances from David Ferrer and Rafael Nadal to claim their second consecutive title, and the fourth in ten years.
Read more about this topic: Spain Davis Cup Team
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of men’s opposition to women’s emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
“If you look at history you’ll find that no state has been so plagued by its rulers as when power has fallen into the hands of some dabbler in philosophy or literary addict.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)
“the future is simply nothing at all. Nothing has happened to the present by becoming past except that fresh slices of existence have been added to the total history of the world. The past is thus as real as the present.”
—Charlie Dunbar Broad (1887–1971)