The Americans were certainly fancying their chances against the Spaniards in their quarterfinal Davis Cup meeting when Rafael Nadal decided to drink cocktails in Ibiza instead of flying to Texas right after his loss in the Wimbledon finals.
Unfortunately for the Americans the Spaniards have raced to a 2-0 lead and now team captain Jim Courier is hoping for a big performance from the Bryan Brothers in the doubles rubber.
Feliciano Lopez, who seems to have finally found some consistency to his game, needed three match points and almost four hours to beat Mardy Fish 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 8-6 giving Spain the first rubber of the tie.
The advantage of serving first in the first set helped Feli capture the set and place the pressure firmly on the shoulders of Mardy.
Both players fired down a huge number of aces – 34 for Mardy and 30 for Feli – before the hopes of America were heaped on Andy Roddick who has had a less than stellar year. Roddick has struggled to not only find any form this year but also find any luck, and his bad luck continued as he double faulted on match point – a highly unusual and untimely error for a man known for his serving prowess.
David Ferrer eventually beat Roddick 7-6, 7-5, 6-3 to place Spain in a very advantageous position.
