U.S. Is Just a Clay Pigeon Against Spain

Alex Corretja was dancing and jumping on the red clay. He was giving piggyback rides to his colleagues and getting rides himself. After that, he grabbed a bottle of champagne, started running and gleefully sprayed a row of courtside photographers.

It made sense, really.

Corretja, the hero of Spain, had explored nearly every inch of the court during his 4-hour 2-minute, five-set doubles match, so why not cover the remaining spots during his joyous victory lap Saturday?

Corretja and Juan Balcells defeated Todd Martin and Chris Woodruff, 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3. The doubles victory gave Spain a 3-0 lead in the Davis Cup semifinal against the United States and clinched the Spaniards’ first trip to the final since 1967.

“It means the dream becomes reality and that’s it. What else can I tell you?” Balcells said.

Said Corretja: “We were suffering a lot. We struggled a lot. But finally we got to this point where we wanted to be.”

The outcome was hardly in doubt after Spain took a 2-0 lead on Friday. One bit of suspense remained: Would the Spaniards seize the moment Saturday or Sunday?

Much to the delight of the singing, chanting and flag-waving crowd of about 13,000--which included singer Julio Iglesias--the moment came just after 7 p.m., hours before dinner, luckily. The little-known, often-injured Balcells secured victory on the first match point with a forehand volley. Spain finished strong, winning the final 10 points against the reeling Americans. It will play host to Australia in the final in December.

Balcells, a mystery man with a short resume and long sideburns, was there at the beginning of last week, at least in the mind of U.S. Davis Cup captain John McEnroe. McEnroe, wondering whether he should play doubles, talked about the other team, musing, “Who the hell is Balcells?”

Well, he was the kind of guy the United States tends to make famous for a day in Davis Cup. Balcells, whose first-serve percentage was 88%, best of the four players, showed only a few lapses of poise. McEnroe joked: “[Balcells] has got the greatest 83 mile-an-hour serve in the history of tennis. No question.”

Then there was Corretja, often remembered more for his losses to Pete Sampras at the U.S. Open and countryman Carlos Moya at the French Open than his victories. Not a gifted doubles player, Corretja kept running and volleyed better than usual. The Spaniards saved four set points in the first set, and rallied from deficits of 4-1 and 6-4 in the tiebreaker.

Hours later, Corretja’s scrambling ability paid off on an incredible series of gets in the second game of the fifth set. The Americans, who were facing break point on Martin’s serve, kept hitting overheads and Corretja kept getting the shots back, moving closer and closer to the side of the court, somehow flinging his racket at the ball.

He looked like he was headed for the stands, at one point, and finally, Balcells cracked a backhand winner into an open court because Martin and Woodruff had pulled to one side.

“That’s tough. That’s hitting us where it hurts,” McEnroe said.

Said Martin: “Chris hit a couple [overheads] early in the point. I was sitting over there saying, ‘Chris, don’t hit it to Corretja, don’t hit it to Corretja.’ Then I got one, I think it was the easiest one of the point . . . and I hit it to Corretja.

“Then we got confused on one ball and Balcells shanked a winner. We didn’t have it covered anyway. I felt like that was our only mistake. That’s one of Alex’s greatest qualities. He can run anything down and get the ball back.”

That made it 2-0 and then Balcells held to make it 3-0. Still, even after that major turn of momentum, Martin and Woodruff were able to rally one more time. They pulled to 3-3, breaking Corretja, and stayed on serve until the eighth game of the fifth. With Woodruff serving, Martin netted two volleys and then Corretja hit a passing shot and whipped a backhand return down the line past Martin for the final break.

Corretja then served it out at love, and he, Balcells and their teammates knelt on the clay for a moment before the wild celebration.

McEnroe felt the Spaniards were aided by a slower court at the start of the fifth. When the Americans left briefly after the fourth for a bathroom break, the court was watered, slowing it down. McEnroe and U.S. team manager Jeff Ryan said there had been an agreement at the captains’ meeting to water the court only once, after the second set.

“Obviously, it was not agreed to, but they did it,” McEnroe said. “That’s another aspect of Davis Cup you have to deal with. It’s not as if you get a default if that happens.

“It’s hard to know what to say. You sit there and they tell you one thing and then they do something else. It’s just like dealing with the umpires. They swear to God the ball is in and they couldn’t be more wrong.”

Spain’s captain, Javier Duarte, said there was no agreement.

“We should have won anyway,” McEnroe said. “We should have won the first set and we should have won [the match]. It’s not sour grapes, it’s just that clearly was not agreed to. It made a bit of a difference. They got a good early start in the fifth.

“It’s just annoying when they say one thing and do another. But having said that, I’m not going to sit there and say we lost the match because they watered the court at the end of the fourth set. We should have won in three or four sets.”

The meaningless reverse singles will be held today.