Defending champion Spain will face Czech Republic in the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group final from 4-6 December at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona. Spain, led by captain Albert Costa, is bidding to become the first country to retain the Davis Cup title since Sweden in 1998.

The Spaniards, represented by Rafael Nadal, Fernando Verdasco, David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez, go into the final with a 17-match unbeaten record on home soil, and are undefeated in 19 ties on clay. This weekend they will play in front of 16,000 fans at the Palau Sant Jordi.

“It’s always special to play at home, because you play in front of your crowd and the atmosphere always is unbelievable,” said Nadal, who carried the flag for Spain when it defeated Australia in the very same arena in the 2000 Davis Cup final to win the coveted team title for the first time.

Davis Cup Final Teams Preview

“I am so excited [that the final is in Spain],” added Verdasco, who last week joined Nadal as Spanish representatives in the elite eight-man field at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. “Last year was really tough for me to play in Argentina with all those people rooting against me. That makes me stronger and tougher mentally, of course, but I wished to play the final in Spain one day and this year it’s possible. I’m so happy to have that chance and I will give my best to try to keep the trophy in Spain one more year.”

The 26-year-old Verdasco was the hero for Spain last year as the team travelled to Mar del Plata and defeated Argentina to win the Davis Cup for a third time. Verdasco defeated Jose Acasuso in five sets to clinch the tie in the fourth rubber.

Spain, contesting its seventh Davis Cup final, also captured the team trophy in 2004 with victory over the United States in Seville; Nadal also featured on the winning team on that occasion.

The Mallorcan has been forced to watch his nation’s campaign from the sidelines for most of 2009, only participating in the first-round win over Serbia. “Davis Cup always is a special competition so every tie of the Davis Cup is important,” said Nadal. “We are talking about the final. Playing at home is always really special. I said before the season started that the Davis Cup this year was going to be an important goal for me. Disappointingly for me, I played the first round against Serbia but after that I was injured in the next two rounds. It was tough for me, but I was supporting the team and I was hoping to be in the final to try and help our team to win its fourth Davis Cup.”

Former World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero played a pivotal role in Spain’s 3-2 quarter-final win over Germany in Marbella in July, clinching the deciding fifth rubber against Andreas Beck, and was again instrumental in a 4-1 victory over Israel in the semi-finals in September in Murcia. Such is the vast strength in depth of the Spanish team, though, Ferrero was not selected among the four-man team for the final.

Spain takes a 3-2 lead over Czech Republic into the teams’ sixth meeting, having won their most recent clash in the first round in Brno in 2004 – when Nadal made his Davis Cup debut. World No. 12 Radek Stepanek, who will lead the Czech team in its third Davis Cup final, is under no illusions as to the enormity of the task ahead for the visitors, but is confident they can end the Spaniards’ winning streak at home.

“The Spanish team definitely is favourite,” conceded the Czech player. “They play in front of the home crowd and are the best players in the world on clay. But wait, it’s Czech Republic here. Maybe for the people we are going there as outsiders, but we believe in our skills, in our games, in our team spirit and if we were going there [expecting] only to get beaten, I wouldn’t go. I’m going to go there to do everything possible and give my all to be successful.”

Stepanek is joined in the four-man team by Tomas Berdych, Jan Hajek and two-time 2009 Grand Slam doubles champion Lukas Dlouhy. Together, they are hoping to emulate the success of the Ivan Lendl-led Czech team that defeated Italy to lift the trophy for the only time in 1980.
 
“This weekend is definitely going to be the most special moment [in my career],” said Stepanek. “To play a Davis Cup final, you never know if you will have another chance. We definitely will give everything we have and maybe even things we don’t have to bring the trophy back to Czech Republic.”

“Definitely, it’s going to be a dream come true if maybe the miracle happens and we can win three points from Spain,” added Berdych. “For us, and for all of Czech Republic, it’s a great achievement so far. We are happy, but not satisfied yet. In tennis, almost anything is possible so we’re really looking forward to it.”

DEUCE Magazine: Inspiring A Nation

Czech Republic booked its place in the final in dramatic fashion, courtesy of marathon efforts from protagonists Stepanek and Berdych against Croatia in Porec. The 31-year-old Stepanek withstood a world-record 78 aces and saved four match points to edge Ivo Karlovic in the first rubber that lasted five hours and 59 minutes – the fourth longest match in Davis Cup history. Berdych then battled through a five-set tussle with Marin Cilic before both Stepanek and Berdych returned for Saturday’s doubles and clinched the tie for Czech Republic with a straight-sets win.

With the advantage of playing at home, Czech Republic defeated nine-time champion France in the first round and edged three-time runner-up Argentina – led by US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro – in the quarter-finals.

“With the way we got to the final so far, we had to go through some tough stages in the matches,” reflected Stepanek. “I had to deal with a couple of injuries, but even so I played and won the important matches. We’ve been able, as a team, to get to the final. 1980 is a huge inspiration for me and now we are the inspiration for the others, which is great for our sport in our country.”

World No. 2 Nadal is certainly wary of the threat the Czech team poses and believes the first day’s two singles rubbers will be crucial in deciding the outcome. “They have a very good team, good doubles, two very good singles [players], so every point is going to be very difficult. For us I think the first day is going to be very important.”

Play gets underway at 4 p.m. CET Friday (3 p.m. GMT, 10 a.m. ET), with the draw for the weekend to be made Thursday.