Shortly before midnight on Tuesday in Madrid’s La Caja Magica, Rafa Nadal punched the air as chants of “Rafa, Rafa” echoed around the arena and the Davis Cup Finals burst into life.
After generally disappointing attendances so far at the glitzy new version of the 119-year-old competition, a sell-out crowd in the cavernous 12 500-seat stadium roared the world number one to a 6-3 7-6(7) win over Russia’s Karen Khachanov.
While the reaction to Nadal’s victory sounded like Spain had won the old trophy for a sixth time it actually just levelled the Group B tie at 1-1.
The victory would come shortly before 2am when veteran duo Feliciano Lopez and Marcel Granollers beat Khachanov and Andrey Rublev 6-4 7-6 to clinch a 2-1 win.
With Russia having beaten defending champions Croatia 3-0 on Monday there was some anxiety on the Spain bench when Rublev surged back to beat Wimbledon semi-finalist Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6 6-3 7-6(0) and put them ahead.
That left the 33-year-old Nadal with no margin for error against dangerous world number 17 Khachanov. But if ever there is a man for a crisis it is Nadal.
He had won his last 24 Davis Cup singles rubbers since losing on his debut in 2004 and was not about to stop now, not on home soil with his country depending on him.
Khachanov stretched him to breaking point at times, especially in the second set but the 19-times Grand Slam champion fought off a set point before claiming victory.
Afterwards he said the new format, with ties consisting of three rubbers rather than the traditional five, made things dangerous for the fancied nations.
“The format makes things very difficult because every mistake puts you in a position that you don’t want to be,” Nadal told reporters, anxiously peering at the television to keep track of his compatriots playing doubles.
“The atmosphere has been amazing. The only negative thing, in my opinion, is we are just starting the last match at 1am. That makes big trouble for us, for the players and the people who come to the stadium because tomorrow is a workday.”
Spain can reach the quarter-finals on Wednesday by beating Croatia, who axed captain Zeljko Krajan two days before their opening tie and will be without injured talisman Marin Cilic.
