Spain Cranks Up Volume on U.S.

Spanish songs weren’t the only noises serenading the U.S. team through two Davis Cup losses here Friday and burning into the head of a stunned Andy Roddick.

Imagine having a crowd of 27,000-plus reacting every time you missed a first serve and prepared for a second, making a noise that Spain’s Rafael Nadal described as, “whoo,” sounding like a mocking review and jeering challenge.

Could it also be the sound of a sweep on clay?

Spain is within one victory of that possibility, after taking a 2-0 lead over the United States on the first day of the finals at Estadio Olimpico. Former French Open champion Carlos Moya defeated Mardy Fish, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3, and 18-year-old Rafael Nadal, filling in for Juan Carlos Ferrero, upset Roddick, 6-7 (6), 6-2, 7-6 (6), 6-2.

Nadal dramatically dropped to his back on the court after the riveting 3-hour 39-minute match and later did a little dance near his teammates. The scene seemed more like a soccer game between Sevilla and Barcelona than a tennis match. It was rich in atmosphere with singing, chanting and whistling fans on a chilly, rainy day.

It was too long on atmosphere for a terse Roddick, who called the experience “crazy.”

“It was unlike anything I’ve experienced before,” he said.

Twins Bob and Mike Bryan of Camarillo will try to keep the U.S. in contention in today’s doubles match against the scheduled team of Tommy Robredo and Nadal. The Spanish pairing will depend on how quickly Nadal physically bounces back and how the Spanish coaches feel about making a substitution.

The Bryans will be trying to prevent another shutout on Spanish soil. Four years ago, the U.S. lost to Spain at Santander in the Cup semifinals, 5-0, and it has dropped seven consecutive matches on clay in Spain.

There are other numbers to consider. The U.S. is 1-30 in Davis Cup play when it trails 0-2. The one victory was scored in 1934 against Australia. Just once in the Davis Cup final has a team come back after losing the first two matches, and that happened when Australia beat the U.S. in 1939, 3-2.

Brave words usually accompany the negative statistics and this was no exception.

“The Bryan boys have been in every situation,” U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe said. “They’ve been two-up, 1-1 a couple of times. Now we’re 0-2. We came here knowing the difficulty and know the challenge. We’re still going to relish the opportunity. We’ve still got an opportunity to make history.”

Roddick faced a youngster starting to hit his stride, and two of the four sets featured scintillating, dramatic shot-making. It was Nadal’s speed against Roddick’s purposeful serve-and-volley play, Roddick keeping the teenager guessing by mixing it up, frequently coming in on his second serve.

He had his chances to break Nadal in the third set, but Nadal saved break points in the first, fifth and seventh games. Roddick fought off three set points on his own serve in the 12th game to reach the third-set tiebreaker and had a set point of his own in the tiebreaker.

But Nadal saved it with an impressive option -- a drop shot. Two points later, Nadal had the set and went sprinting to his courtside chair, shaking off cramps caused by his nervous energy. But Roddick was the one looking spent in the fourth -- losing five consecutive games in one stretch.

“He played well,” Roddick said. “It’s very impressive. Every once in a while, people come along and they’re big-match players. He apparently looks like he is a big-match player. He’s come through.... I think you either have it or don’t, regardless of age. Maybe it helps him in a way.”

Fish was doing a lot better in the enjoyment department than Roddick, which probably had a lot to do with lowered expectations. He tried to have some fun with the heightened atmosphere and actually started off well, winning the first two games at love and going ahead, 3-0, before Moya settled in.

Officials said 27,200 tickets were sold, a record for a “sanctioned” tennis match, and it appeared close to that by the time Fish and Moya finished the opener. Fish joked that it felt like an away football game.

“A road game, in Southern Miss or something like that, Ole Miss,” he said, smiling. “I’ll watch college football games on TV and stuff,” Fish said. “When they kick off, they do all those weird sounds, whatever they do. But the whole crowd makes the ‘whoo’ noise or whatever. I felt like I was in a college football game.... And this was definitely the closest thing to it that we have in tennis. I’m sure of that.”

So were Roddick and the rest of their teammates.