The Majorca born maestro took just over an hour to beat Olivier Rochus 6-4, 6-2 on Sunday and the victory emphasised Spain’s domination over Belgium in a 4-1 win. Spain qualified for the quarter finals of the Davis Cup with wins on Saturday and Nadal’s victory confirmed Spanish superiority seen on the two earlier days of the rubber.
One positive moment for Belgium was, however, Steve Darcis‘s bravely fought for victory over Feliciano Lopez 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-3 to win Belgium’s only point in an entertaining match that lasted two hours 34 minutes.
On Friday Fernando Verdasco overcame former top 20 player Xavier Malisse, 6-4, 6-3 and 6-1. Verdasco was playing instead of David Ferrer who had to withdraw from the tournament as he was suffering from an injury to his right arm.
Nadal also beat Ruben Bemelmans 6-2, 6-4 and 6-2 on Saturday. The Belgium player showed a strong service, but could offer little more during the match. In the doubles match Verdasco and López beat Darcis and Rochus 7-6, 6-4, 6-3.
The win for Spain takes them into the quarter finals of the competition against the United States who were winners this weekend against Chile. Andy Roddick was in outstanding form for the Americans.
Nadal’s outing on Sunday allowed him a chance to gain more match fitness ahead of next week’s BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells when he will play his first ATP event since injuring his left thigh during a quarter final match at the Australian Open.
As Nadal moves on to a greater level of performance it is now up to the Belgian Tennis Federation to see how they can strengthen the men’s squad for next year’s Davis Cup tournament.
