Spain and Czech Republic will contest the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas final from 4-6 December at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain. Spain defeated Argentina in the final last year, and is looking to become the first nation to retain the Davis Cup title since Sweden in 1998. Meanwhile, Czech Republic is playing in the final for the first time since 1980, when Ivan Lendl led his country to its sole Davis Cup title.

Spain goes into the tie with an unbeaten home record of 17 ties and leads Czech Republic 3-2 in their head-to-head series. Spain won the last meeting between the two nations, with Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo leading the visitors to victory on indoor carpet in Brno in the first round in 2004.

SPAIN vs CZECH REPUBLIC
Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain
Clay – Indoors

SPAIN (113-69 ties record, first year played 1921)

Rafael Nadal (14-5 Davis Cup record, 12-1 in singles)

The Mallorcan returns to lead his nation in its seventh Davis Cup final after injury kept him sidelined in the quarter-finals and semi-finals of its campaign. Nadal made his debut in Spain’s first-round clash with Czech Republic in February 2004 and lost to Jiri Novak in the opening rubber. Two days later he clinched the tie for Spain with victory over Radek Stepanek and has gone undefeated since, compiling a 12-1 singles record in the ITF men’s team competition – also featuring in the team that defeated the United States in the 2004 final in Seville. The 23 year old started the 2009 season in red-hot form, clinching his sixth Grand Slam title at the Australian Open (d. Federer) and followed with more hard-court success at the BNP Paribas Open (d. Murray) in Indian Wells in March. He captured three successive ATP World Tour clay-court titles at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (d. Djokovic), Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell (d. Ferrer) and the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome (d. Djokovic) but was denied a fifth Roland Garros crown as he was defeated by Robin Soderling in the fourth round. Knee tendonitis and an abdominal strain have left the Spaniard without another ATP World Tour title in 2009, but, in a gradual return to fitness and form, he reached the US Open semi-finals (l. to del Potro) and was a runner-up at the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 presented by Rolex (l. to Davydenko). The Manacor resident is looking for his 400th tour-level win, after being denied in three losses at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals last week. 

Fernando Verdasco (11-7 Davis Cup record, 5-4 in singles)

The hero of Spain’s 2008 Davis Cup campaign, Verdasco clinched the fourth rubber in five sets against Jose Acasuso a year ago to win his country’s third Davis Cup title. The Madrid native made his debut four years ago, in Spain’s first-round defeat to Slovak Republic, and last featured in three rubbers of Spain's quarter-final win over Germany earlier this season. The left-hander is on course to finish inside the Top 10 of the South African Airways ATP Rankings for the first time after a career-best season that saw him reach his first major semi-final at the Australian Open (l. to Nadal) and qualify for the elite eight-man field at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, where he went 0-3 in round-robin action. The 26 year old has reached the quarter-finals or better at 14 tournaments, including winning his first hard-court crown at Pilot Pen Tennis (d. Querrey) and finishing runner-up at the Proton Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2009 (l. to Davydenko).

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David Ferrer (9-3 Davis Cup record, 9-3 in singles)

The Valencia resident made his debut in 2006 in Spain’s first-round defeat to Belarus and was part of the winning team that travelled to Argentina last year. He has won all four of his matches this year, including a straight-sets win over World No. 3 Novak Djokovic against Serbia in the first round. The 27 year old has compiled a 43-23 mark this season, highlighted by two runner-up finishes on the ATP World Tour at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships (l. to Djokovic) and the Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell (l. to Nadal). He also posted semi-final efforts at the Heineken Open (l. to Querrey) in Auckland, the SA Tennis Open (l. to Chardy) in Johannesburg and the International German Open (l. to Davydenko) in Hamburg.

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Feliciano Lopez (9-11 Davis Cup record, 3-5 in singles, 6-6 in doubles)

The Toledo native has represented Spain at every stage of its campaign this season and, together with Tommy Robredo, clinched Spain’s place in the final with a win in the doubles over Israel in the semi-finals. The left-hander suffered a lean spell of nine successive tour-level defeats during the summer, but recently showed signs of a return to his best form with a run to the semi-finals of the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 presented by Rolex (l. to Nadal) and a quarter-final effort at the Bank Austria TennisTrophy (l. to Cilic) in Vienna.

CZECH REPUBLIC (112-73 ties record, 1921 first year played)

Radek Stepanek (14-7 Davis Cup record, 7-6 in singles)

The Karvina native has played a pivotal role in his country’s progress to the final this season, winning six of his seven matches in both singles and doubles play. In the semi-final against Croatia, he withstood a staggering 78 aces and saved four match points to defeat Ivo Karlovic in a marathon five-hour, 59-minute encounter – the fourth longest match in Davis Cup history. The 31 year old opened the 2009 season in strong form, winning two ATP World Tour titles at the Brisbane International (d. Verdasco) and the SAP Open (d. Fish) in San Jose and also finishing runner-up at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships (l. to Roddick) in Memphis. He comes into the tie on the back of successive semi-final showings at the Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel (l. to Djokovic) and the BNP Paribas Masters (l. Monfils) in Paris (Bercy).

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Tomas Berdych (21-7 Davis Cup record, 13-7 in singles)

Along with Stepanek, the 24 year old has been instrumental to Czech Republic’s campaign this season. He has lost just one match in seven outings and defeated Marin Cilic in a five-set tussle before teaming with Stepanek for a doubles win to clinch his nation’s place in the final. He made his debut six years ago, in Czech Republic’s victory over Thailand in the World Group play-off. The right-hander won his fifth ATP World Tour title at the BMW Open (d. Youzhny) on clay in Munich in May and has reached the quarter-finals at a further four events, including the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters (l. to Nadal) – an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati. He has compiled a 36-25 mark on the season.

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Jan Hajek (1-0 Davis Cup record, 1-0 in singles)

The 26 year old made his Davis Cup debut with a straight-sets win over Croatia’s Roko Karanusic in a dead rubber in the semi-final in September. Currently No. 102 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, the right-hander has won three ATP Challenger Tour titles to improve his position from No. 475 at the start of the season. He also played in the main draw at one ATP World Tour tournament towards the end of the year, reaching the second round at the Bank Austria TennisTrophy (l. to Monfils) in Vienna.

Lukas Dlouhy (3-4 Davis Cup record, 2-3 in singles, 1-1 in doubles)

The Pisek native has enjoyed an outstanding season on the ATP World Tour doubles circuit and is currently ranked World No. 6. Together with Indian Leander Paes, he has won two Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros (d. Moodie-Norman) and the US Open (d. Bhupathi-Knowles) and also qualified for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. The 26 year old made his Davis Cup debut in a quarter-final win over Morocco in Europe/Africa Group I and last played in the semi-finals in September, losing a singles dead rubber to Lovro Zovko.

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