| | Associated Press
BARCELONA, Spain -- Even Spain's king had to cover his eyes
with victory so close.
Then Juan Carlos Ferrero provided the winning point, and the
king joined the singing, flag-waving crowd in celebrating Spain's
first Davis Cup title, its 79-year wait over.
|  | | Juan Carlos Ferrero sets off a Spanish celebration after beating Lleyton Hewitt in Barcelona. |
Ferrero beat Lleyton Hewitt 6-2, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4 in almost
four hours Sunday for an insurmountable 3-1 lead over defending
champion Australia in the best-of-five series.
"It's one of my best victories, well, the best," Ferrero said.
"I'm on cloud nine."
The best tennis country never to have won this showcase event
finally had the 101-year-old silver bowl.
In a match between two of the game's best young players, Ferrero
broke Hewitt to love in the first game and thwarted the tenacious
Aussie each time he threatened to wrest control. The 20-year-old
Spaniard got in more first serves, made fewer unforced errors on
the slow clay and lashed baseline shots from both sides.
Spain had appeared in two previous Davis Cup finals, both losses
to Australia in the 1960s on grass. But with a victory over the
27-time champions the sellout crowd of 14,000 finally had a title
all its own.
After the winning shot, Ferrero's teammates raced on court and
piled on, creating a minor dust bowl. Spain's top player all
season, Alex Corretja, hoisted him on his shoulders and circled the
court heading for the royal box.
With the crowd at Palau Sant Jordi chanting "campeones"
(champions) and singing "Que Viva Espana," King Juan Carlos and
Queen Sofia reached over a railing and shook Ferrero's hand.
"I wasn't too nervous, I had met them before," he said. "It
was nice to have them alongside and cheering us on.
An avid tennis fan, the king embraced the Spanish players and
captain Javier Duarte as he handed over miniatures of the cup. Then
he patted Hewitt on the cheek to console him, pausing for a minute
to joke with Australia coach John Newcombe.
"I said to the king that I was watching him towards the end of
the match on some of those points -- and he had his hands covering
his eyes," Newcombe said. "He was very nervous, so we just
laughed about it."
Newcombe, who is retiring from the Davis Cup with coach Tony
Roche, saluted the same fans he had criticized the first two days
for cheering Australia's errors.
"This time we had to come to your country to defend the cup,"
Newcombe said. "We tried our best but in the end you were just too
good."
But Newcombe had some words of caution for the fans.
"Next time we play, you better be prepared to play on what the
cows eat -- grass," he said.
Spanish captain Javier Duarte paid tribute to those instrumental
in building Spanish tennis, including Manuel Santana, who was fired
a year ago as captain. Santana did not attend the final, playing
instead in a tournament in Florida.
"This Spanish generation of players is the best generation of
tennis we have ever had," Duarte said. "It's going to be very
difficult to get another generation as good as this one."
Hewitt, who won his opening singles match Friday, bemoaned his
inability to force a fifth set.
"Two days ago I was saying I had the greatest feeling out on
that court and now it's probably the worst feeling of my tennis
career so far. ... I couldn't have asked any more of myself," he
said."
On Friday, the 19-year-old Aussie defeated Albert Costa in five
sets, and Ferrero downed Patrick Rafter, with the Aussie retiring
in the fourth set because of cramps.
In Saturday's doubles, Corretja and Joan Balcells swept Sandon
Stolle and Mark Woodforde to give Spain a 2-1 lead.
Sunday's remaining singles match between Corretja and Rafter was
called off, leaving the final score 3-1.
"Today was something special because we saw two of the future
people of the world of tennis playing in that sort of a match,"
Newcombe said.
Ferrero, who plays an all-court game unlike most Spaniards,
couldn't stop smiling.
"I don't know if this will change my life, but certainly the
experience of having won a Davis Cup at 20 gives me confidence for
other tournaments," he said. "It's a dream come true, it's
tremendous joy for us."
Ferrero got the winner with a backhand passing shot down the
line. The shot came on the fourth match point of the game after
Ferrero had been up 15-40 and couldn't convert. He finally did on
the second ad point.
"I was very nervous because we were so close and I was just
trying to play as normal as possible," he said.
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