Spain takes the doubles Nadal replaces Robredo and leads Spain to doubles win Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco put in a performance full of dynamic exuberance to beat Giorgio Galimberti and Daniele Bracciali 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 in Saturday’s doubles and give Spain a 2-1 lead over Italy in its Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group play-off. “It was a very impressive match and very emotional,” said Nadal.” It’s much better to go to bed with 2-1 up than 2-1 down. It gives us confidence for tomorrow.” Nadal was called in by Spanish captain Emilio Sanchez as a replacement for Tommy Robredo, who had appeared out-of-sorts in losing to Filippo Volandri in Friday’s opening singles rubber. It proved to be a master stroke. “They combined well because when one was down the other one was up,” said Spanish captain Emilio Sanchez. “Rafa controls his energy very well because he’s played a lot of important matches with his emotions. I was trying to control Fernando a little more because I didn’t want him to get over-excited because then you play bad. He’s more expressive in a way.” Nadal and Verdasco bring energy to the court Nadal and Verdasco had never previously played Davis Cup doubles together – though they did reach the semi-finals of the ATP Tour event in Stuttgart in July 2005 on their only previous doubles foray – but appeared to gel immediately. Bouncing around between points and frequently exhorting each other with shouts, fist pumps, high fives and even chest bumps, Nadal and Verdasco were a collective bundle of energy from the first point. “Fernando played a very complete match,” said Nadal. “He returned the ball unbelievable when the other guys were serving. This was a very important match for us because we had a lot of losses in doubles this year.” Verdasco had never played in front of his home crowd in Davis Cup before and afterwards said he was inspired by the occasion. “For me it was so motivating, and such a good feeling and sensation,” said Verdasco. “It was a new and special experience and I’m so happy that I started with a victory.” Galimberti and Bracciali were by far the more established team and had never been beaten in Davis Cup play, yet they appeared overwhelmed early on. The Spanish duo broke Bracciali’s serve in the opening game to set the tone for the first set. While Nadal is undoubtedly the star of the show in Santander – where he is playing his first Davis Cup tie at home since the 2004 final – Spain owed its doubles victory as much to Verdasco as to the two-time Roland Garros champion. While Nadal’s groundstrokes were predictably potent, Verdasco served well and dominated the net with agile aggression. Italians fight back The high octane tennis which the Spanish produced in the first set was always likely to suffer a dip and when their energy levels dropped a notch in the second set, Bracciali and Galimberti pounced to temporarily quell the crowd and their opponents. The Italians’ efforts in leveling the match at a set all served only to galvanise Nadal and Verdasco once more, though, and the home side recovered the dynamism of the first set to go two sets to one ahead. The momentum appeared to switch again at the start of the fourth set, with Italy becoming more aggressive and producing their best passage of play of the match to run up a 5-2 lead, yet Nadal and Verdasco did not stay subdued for long. They broke to 15 when Galimberti served to level the match, bounding back to their seats as though barely able to contain themselves. Verdasco had to survive a few anxious moments on his serve at 4-5 but it was his aggression and perseverance which secured victory for Spain after Nadal had taken them to the tiebreaker. Spanish celebrate After Nadal put away the winning volley, Verdasco jumped into the 20-year-old’ s arms with such force that he knocked Nadal over backwards onto the court, and the pair remained locked in an embrace, covering themselves in red clay as the capacity crowd roared its approval. Nadal will return to action for the reverse singles on Sunday, and could win the tie for Spain and secure his nation’s place in the World Group next year if he beats Volandri in the opening rubber. “Now I have the chance to win the tie (but) I’m going to have a very difficult match,” said Nadal. “Volandri is playing very good with lots of confidence so I will have to play a very good match tomorrow.” If Volandri manages to pull off another upset, then Sanchez will have to decide whether to keep faith with Robredo for the second singles rubber against Andreas Seppi or replace him with either Verdasco or David Ferrer. Under the ITF’s Davis Cup rules, Sanchez has until ten minutes before the scheduled start of the fifth rubber to make a decision. 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