Nadal finds inspiration at home

An inspired Rafael Nadal led Spain into the Davis Cup final on Sunday, just a few hours before his conqueror in last week's US Open final, Novak Djokovic, retired with a back injury from his singles match against Juan Martín del Potro in Belgrade, giving Argentina the point it needed to win the other semifinal.

After the French doubles pairing of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Michaël Llodra had humbled Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano López 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 on Saturday to keep the visiting team in the semifinal tie at 1-2 down, Nadal needed just two hours and 17 minutes to defeat Tsonga 6-0, 6-2, 6-4 and send Spain into its eighth Davis Cup final. Back on his preferred surface of clay after the heavy defeat against Djokovic on New York's hard courts, Nadal was in the same invulnerable form against Tsonga as he had showed in Friday's demolition of Richard Gasquet, in which he lost just four games.

In an abbreviated fifth match in Córdoba's converted bullring, Verdasco treated Gasquet to his second heavy beating of the weekend, 6-2, 6-1, to give Spain an overall 4-1 win.

In his victory speech, Nadal stressed that it had been a team performance, pointing out that his compatriots had come through July's quarterfinal against USA in Austin without him. Having made critical remarks about the organization of the competition and the strain its calendar puts on the top players before Friday's opening matches, the world number two, who has not lost a Davis Cup singles match since his debut in 2004, was eager to leave Córdoba on a sweeter note. "You can only experience atmospheres like this at the Davis Cup. It's a very special competition and it's always special for me to play in front of the Spanish public. I don't have many opportunities and when I do I try to make the most of them."

Nadal added that he would prefer to face Argentina in the final, for which Spain will have home advantage under the competition's rotational system. Spain won the third of its four Davis Cups in Mar del Plata in 2008. Serbia would have hosted the final against Spain, but Del Potro's 7-6, 3-0 (retired) win over Djokovic gave Argentina an unassailable 3-1 lead.

The final will be held on December 2-4 on a clay court somewhere in Spain.