The United States has kept alive its hopes for the Davis Cup Tennis title, beating Spain in the doubles match at the best of five series in Seville.
The American duo of twin-brothers Bob and Mike Bryan easily defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero and Tommy Robredo of Spain, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday, cutting the hosts' lead in the Davis Cup final to 2-1.
Playing before another sellout crowd of 27,200 at Olympic Stadium, the Bryans won the first set in 27 minutes. The Spaniards settled down in the second set with both teams broken once in the first four games. But the Bryans showed why they are the top doubles team in the world, winning the next two sets to take the match in one hour and 39 minutes. Mike Bryan said he and his brother were happy to give the United States its first point.
"Yeah, it feels good, but it is not going to be as good, if we don't win two tomorrow, he said. "It feels good to give those guys another shot. Spain has to sleep on that. You know everything went according to plan. We won that first set 6-0, and it went pretty smoothly. We rose to the occasion, and we played well."
Spain took the 2-0 lead in the opening singles matches on the clay courts Friday. Carlos Moya scored a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 win over Olympic silver medalist Mardy Fish, and Rafael Nadal shocked American Andy Roddick in four sets (7-6, 6-2, 7-6, 6-2).
The decisive reverse singles matches are set for Sunday, with Moya challenging Roddick, and Nadal taking on Fish. United States Captain Patrick McEnroe is still hopeful his team can pull out the victory.
"I think Andy played a real good match yesterday, and I think, if he plays up to that level, and he has a good chance the way he matches up with Carlos," said Patrick McEnroe. "Obviously Mardy is an underdog in his match. You know, he learns pretty quickly, and he knows he is going to have to be aggressive, you know, really try to force the issue, then who knows what could happen?"
The United States has won a record 31 Davis Cup titles, but has not captured the premier team event in men's tennis since 1995. Spain last captured the trophy in 2000, with a 3-1 win over Australia in Barcelona.
