As I mentioned last week, the ATP Tour Finals were held in London and Rafa didn't do so well. I figured he'd be on his way back to Mallorca to eat cookies for Christmas, but I forgot that before he could go on vacation he still had to play the Davis Cup Final, since Spain has been kicking ass all season and Rafa loves to play for his country.
And wouldn't you know it, Spain won! Rafa got two great wins in what turned out to be a total rout of Czech Republic: 5-0. Rafa started things off right by beating Tomas Berdych 7-5 6-0 6-2 to give Spain a 1-0 lead. Then David Ferrer had a crazy comeback to beat Radek Stepanek in five sets, 1-6 2-6 6-4 6-4 8-6, to take the second rubber (as the Davis Cup matches are called). Following that, Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco beat Tomas Berdych and Radek in straight sets, 7-6 (9-7), 7-5, 6-2 to seal the victory for Spain. Rafa returned Sunday for a 6-3 6-4 win over Jan Hajek, and Ferrer did clean up with a 6-4 6-2 win against Lukas Dlouhy. "The Spanish Armada," as the team has been nicknamed, played extremely well this weekend, They successfully defended their title from 2008, making it the first successful title defense at David Cup in ten years.
This is a much better coda to Rafa's tennis year than going 0-3 in London. Knowing how much Davis Cup and his Armada teammates mean to him, I'm glad that Rafa was able to return to top form and help bring it home for Spain.
NOW he gets to rest and recuperate (and train) for when the tour starts again... in about 5 weeks? Shortest off-season ever. See you there, Rafa!
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