Brian Homewood
MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina (Reuters) - David Nalbandian raced to a straight-sets win over David Ferrer to hand Argentina a 1-0 lead over Spain in the Davis Cup final on Friday.
Nalbandian won 6-3 6-2 6-3 in one hour 59 minutes to give the hosts the perfect start in their bid to win the competition for the first time.
"It was a great game," Nalbandian said in an on-court interview. "It could not have been better, to win it quickly the way I did."
The Argentine was quick out off the blocks as he broke serve in the third game and repeated the trick in the seventh when Ferrer double-faulted on break point.
Ferrer, struggling on the fast indoor surface at the Polideportivo Malvinas arena, broke back in the next game but Nalbandian replied immediately to wrap up the first set in 53 minutes.
The Spaniard struggled to find an answer to Nalbandian's flowing tennis as he dropped his serve again in the fourth game of the next set having led 40-0.
Ferrer broke back in the next game but it was only a minor hitch for the hosts as Nalbandian broke twice more to finish the set in 38 minutes.
In the final set, Nalbandian broke in the sixth game before producing two aces to earn three match points.
He finished things off with another powerful serve which Ferrer could not return.
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A tremendous start for Nalbandian but a disappointing ending for Del Potro. That is how you can summarized the overall performance from Day 1.
David Nalbandian was just perfect on every aspect of his game and he could do no wrong. Ferrer did had his moments where I felt that he could pull something, but Nalbandian gave him no room for revival. This was the one of the best performance from Nalbandian that I've seen in a while.
I have to admit that I was expecting Del Potro to give us a 2-0 lead. But I can put the blame entirely on him as he was carrying a minor injury during the game. I'm sure he will look back with plenty determination to win on Sunday.
Now here comes the moment which I fear the most. Just like what happened, it will be the double event that might be crucial for Argentina on their Davis Cup quest. I hope Nalbandian/Calleri can pull something out of this but Spain will have plenty of confidence following Feliciano's win. We'll see how things goes.
In the meantime, please check out my re-cap on the matches from Day 1. Of course, your feedback is highly appreciated.
http://mundoalbiceleste.blogspot.com/2008/11/davis-cup-final-day-1-mixed-fortunes.html
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