Moya Beats Down Roddick to Clinch the Davis Cup Title for Spain

"This has been incredible. The moment I've been waiting for," added Moya, who was injured for Spain’s 2000 victory.

Moya entered the match against Roddick with a poor 0-3 record against the American. But Moya knew those past results were on faster surfaces and were not played in front of his home country fans.

The American team, who was seeking their 32nd Davis Cup crown and first since 1995, knew it was an up hill battle from the start of the tie on Friday, when Moya began the showdown in fine fashion hammering Mardy Fish in straight sets. In the next tie, 18-year-old prodigy Rafael Nadal secured the second point for Spain with an impressive four set victory over a game Roddick.

In a hole down 0-2, the U.S. turned to its top doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan to stave off elimination. And the brother tandem didn’t disappoint putting the beat down on the Spanish duo of Juan Carlos Ferrero and Tommy Robredo. Ferrero, who was the Davis Cup hero in the 2000 finals and a former French Open champ and World No.1, was surprisingly dropped from singles to doubles so Nadal could earn rest for a possible Sunday decider.

"The bottom line is they were just better than us this weekend," said Roddick, whose primary focus since the U.S. Open had been to bring home a Davis Cup title. "They came out, took care of business and they beat us. It's a simple as that."

The real bottom line is that the U.S. no longer excels on clay in international competition. Roddick and Fish are not known for the clay expertise on a surface that demands it. And with Andre Agassi taking a pass and Jim Courier now playing on the senior tour, the U.S. had few options to combat the powerful arsenal of Spain. Vince Spadea was a late addition to the squad, but his participation would have likely made little difference.

In the “dead” fifth rubber, Fish made the final score look a bit closer in the history books with a 7-6(8), 6-2 win over Robredo.