Spain take two-point lead in Davis Cup final

A comprehensive victory by Rafael Nadal was followed by a marathon five-set win by David Ferrer as Spain finished the first day of the Davis Cup final against Argentina with a 2-0 lead in Seville. Nadal maintained his 100% record in the competition on clay with a 6-1 6-1 6-2 victory over Juan Monaco in the opening rubber. World No5 Ferrer then came to the court where he faced Juan Martin del Potro and eventually triumphed 6-2 6-7 (2/7) 3-6 6-4 6-3 in almost five hours after the match appeared to be slipping away from him at one point. The Spain team were exhilarated following the match and captain Alberto Costa said: "He is David Ferrer and he fights all the time. At the end he played unbelievable tennis." Ferrer settled the earlier of the two and his aggressive approach saw him claim an early break in the fourth game to go 3-1 up before holding and breaking in the eighth game for 6-2. The first four games of the second set went with serve when the Argentinian gave his team hope with a break after Ferrer went long and an ace by Del Potro saw him go 4-2 up. However, after holding, Ferrer then broke back for 4-4. At 5-6, Del Potro played a fearless game to draw level and force a tie-break in which he took a 3-0 lead, eventually winning 7-2. However, Ferrer took the initiative in the first game of the third set, a forehand down the line leaving his opponent wrong-footed to break. The Spaniard, though, seemed to lose some spark and Del Potro broke to level before holding to go ahead 4-3. Del Potro was in inspired form, finding the corners and manoeuvring his opponent around the court, breaking again with a cross-court shot for 5-3 before a ferocious forehand saw him take the set. The fourth set saw the Spaniard take a decisive break in the 10th game to send the tie into a decider. Ferrer then roared into a 5-1 lead in the final set and, although Del Potro won the next two games, the Spaniard drilled a forehand with his opponent wrong-footed for victory after 4hrs 46mins. Ferrer said: "I played maybe the best match of my career, I am very happy. "Now I am very tired because it was very close The first set I was very tired but he was worse then me. We want to enjoy this moment and relax." It was in stark contrast to Nadal, the world number two needing just two hours and 27 minutes to give four-time champions Spain a 1-0 lead. "It was a very, very important victory for me and I played a really solid match," he said. "I did everything to try to arrive here in good condition and I did that." Monaco had to save three break points in the opening game of the match, but then lost the next six games in a row as Nadal began to dominate. The Spaniard broke Monaco's serve twice more to take the second set by the same scoreline and then won the rally of the match in the third set to secure another crucial break.