Davis Cup , Day 1

Wow, what a great day of tennis in Seville on Friday, which ended with home favorites Spain taking a crucial 2-0 lead over Argentina. It's not just the 0-2 deficit, but the way Argentina went down that makes it highly improbable the visitors can come back to win the tie.

There was very little surprise in the first rubber, as Rafael Nadal creamed his buddy Juan Monaco, 6-1, 6-1, 6-2. Poor Monaco never had a chance from the moment the draw was announced and the King of Clay made it clear from the get-go. There were several amazing, entertaining points that predictably went in Nadal's favor and Monaco wondering, "What do I have to do to win even a point against this guy?" I do not think that Argentina could have fielded anyone that would have accomplished anything against Nadal, but it was hard to watch this and not feel that Argentina kind of threw Monaco to the dogs.

But as expected, Ferrer v. del Potro was considerably more complicated. The two treated the crowd to a long, grinding, topsy-turvy contest with so many momentum swings that it was never clear who was going to win until the last 20 minutes. But in the end, scrappy Ferrer pulled out a 6-2, 6-7, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory in 4 hours and 45 minutes, leaving del Potro dejected, exhausted and in tears.

When Ferrer went down two sets to one, it was not looking good. His strategy of pounding delPo's backhand wasn't working nearly as well and delPo started unleashing on his forehand. But Ferrer toughed out the fourth set after delPo hit two forehand errors and double faulted on set point, then raced to a 5-1 lead in the fifth set while delPo clearly succumbed to fatigue. Delpo broke back to force Ferrer to serve for the match again a 5-3, but Ferrer shut the door with a forehand winner on match point and collapsed to his knees in delight.

I have to say, Ferrer never fails to amaze. I'm going start calling him Iron Man. I predicted that this match would go the distance and picked delPo to pull it out because of the bigger groundstrokes that were getting the better of Ferrer in sets two and three. But the man just doesn't give up. I thought that the longer the match went, the more it would favor delPo because he hasn't played nearly as much. But Ferrer is indefatigable. No matter how tired he says he is afterwards, he will fight until the death. He's the most underrated player in the top 10, IMHO.

This is best start Spain could have hoped for, but it's certainly not a foregone conclusion that Spain will wrap this up on Saturday. As strong as their singles players are, their doubles team is particularly vulnerable and Verdasco stands out as the weakest link. In the semifinals against France, Lopez/Verdasco played an awful match where both were making uncharacteristic mistakes and the teammates stopped speaking in between the points for a time.

I think if the Spaniards can step up their form, they can win this match in four sets. But stepping up your form when you haven't been playing well is very difficult, and it's particularly challenging if your partner is also struggling. This is Argentina's best chance to get into this tie, because delPo has even less of a chance to beat Nadal tomorrow after being dragged through a nearly five hour match. I'm going to be bold and call Argentina for a win today, mainly because I feel confidence will fail the Spaniards just enough to give the Argentines opportunity. I do not think Lopez/Verdasco have the rhythm and flow they need to pull this out. However, I think Argentina is simply delaying the inevitable because Nadal, who spent just over two hours on court Friday, ain't losing to anyone on court on Sunday.