Rafael Nadal won the decisive match of the tie against Denis Shapovalov after Roberto Bautista Agut had given Spain the lead by beating Felix Auger-Aliassime, also in straight sets.
6-6 (8-6) Denis Shapovalov nets his forehand at 6-7 down and Rafael Nadal coverts Spain's third World Championship point to seal a sixth Davis Cup title.
6-6 (6-6) Denis Shapovalov saves two Championship points in the second-set tiebreak.
6-6 AND WE GO INTO THE SECOND-SET TIEBREAK! Rafael Nadal manages to keep his overhead smash inside the baseline and holds his serve.
5-6 A forehand unforced error from Rafael Nadal on a Denis Shapovalov second serve leaves him needing to hold his serve to force a tiebreak.
5-5 A backhand unforced error from Denis Shapovalov allows Rafael Nadal to draw level. A tense service game, mind you, but Nadal rises to the occasion again and Shapovalov's unforced errors on a couple of occasions didn't help.
4-5 Denis Shapovalov holds serve after conceding a break point from a breathtaking forehand pass from Rafael Nadal. The Canadian raised his game big time and it's now Nadal who has it all to do to stay in the set.
4-4 Service hold after service hold! Rafael Nadal holds his nerve to draw level. Over to Denis Shapovalov to keep the pressure on the Spaniard with another service hold.
3-4 Denis Shapovalov holds serve. A couple of delicate drop shots with Rafael Nadal behind the baseline, and it's a crucial service hold for the Canadian.
3-3 An important service hold from Rafael Nadal! He saves a break point and with a couple of good serves, manages to close out the game. For Denis Shapovalov, it was a missed opportunity.
2-3 After a love hold from Rafael Nadal, Denis Shapovalov holds serve again to remain in front. After being 0-30 down, Shapovalov's lethal serving helped him het back into the service game and he closed it out with an unreturned serve.
1-2 Denis Shapovalov saves two break points and holds serve to remain in front in the second set.
1-1 Rafael Nadal holds serve! The game went into deuce after Nadal had a game point at 40-30, but served an ace at a crucial moment and claims a service hold.
Second set.
6-3 Denis Shapovalov saves one break point but Rafael Nadal produces a good serve at 40-30 and a forehand error from the Canadian gives him and Spain the opening set. Nadal hasn't had anything to do out of the ordinary and the onus is now on Shapovalov to bring himself and Canada back into the match.
5-3: A love hold from Denis Shapovalov, forcing Rafael Nadal to serve out the set.
4-2: Rafael Nadal with the first service break of the match. A forehand unforced error from Shapovalov gives Nadal the ascendancy in the match. After failing to convert the first two break-point opportunities in the match, Nadal is able to convert the third break point and exert control.
2-2: Still no service breaks in the match. After a relatively comfortable hold from Rafael Nadal, Denis Shapovalov saves a break point at 30-40 and with a forehand winner, wins the game to draw level.
1-1: Both players hold their opening service games. Denis Shapovalov conceded a break point but then saved it and a couple of quality serves at 40-40 helps him hold his first service game of the match.
Rafael Nadal to serve. Here we go!
NEXT UP: Rafael Nadal takes on Denis Shapovalov. The players are making their way out onto the court, Shapovalov the first to emerge followed by the world number one Nadal.
6-3: GAME, SET AND MATCH! Roberto Bautista Agut puts Spain 1-0 up in the Davis Cup final with a straight-sets (7-6 6-3) victory over Canadian Auger Aliassime. One stat that tilted the match in the Spaniard's favour is his 19 unforced errors to Aliassime's 45. Agut is ecstatic, goes over and hugs the team captain Sergi Bruguera before chants of "Roberto" ring around the stadium.
5-3: Auger Aliassime holds serve and forces Roberto Bautista Agut to serve out the match. It was a struggle for the Canadian to not cede another service break and the match, but eventually, he takes the game with a winner.
4-2: Roberto Bautista Agut breaks back after ceding a break himself to Auger Aliassime. An ordinary service game from the Canadian after with one double fault and unforced errors that played into Agut's hands.
3-0: Agut extends Spain's lead as he fights off a stiff challenge from Auger Aliassime to pocket the third game. The Canadian dug deep and took the game to deuce, but found to way past Agut. The Canadian's game appears to be falling apart, while the Spaniard closes in on a fine win.
2-0: BREAK TO SPAIN! Agut grinds hard and gets the early break. He forces Auger Aliassime to deuce and the Canadian crumbles under pressure. He double faulted twice and managed to save two breakpoints, but wasn't as lucky the third time. He sends a forehand long and Agut now holds a two game lead.
1-0 to Spain - Auger Aliassime is feeling the pressure. Agut plays the waiting game and merely puts the ball back on the court, while Auger Aliassime has struggled to find consistency.
Roberto Bautista Agut holds his nerve in the tiebreak to capitalise on Felix Auger Aliassime's errors to clinch the opening set 7-6 (3). Advantage Spain!
Tiebreaker
3-7: Agut wins the opening set! He hangs in there and converts his first set point to hand the host the lead.
3-6: Oh no, what a collapse! Felix loses both his service points and Agut now has a chance to serve for the opening set.
3-4: He sends it long! Felix sends his forehand long and gifts Agut an easy point. The crowd is backing the Spaniard and Felix seems to be under a tad bit of pressure.
3-3: Felix did ever so well to return that serve but a sublime inside our forehand winner from Agut sees the tiebreaker level at 3-3.
3-2: Felix wins both his service points to remain in the lead. And he seals the second point with... you guessed right... an ace.
1-2: Agut puts Spain ahead, for the first time in this Davis Cup 2019 final, with a cheeky drop. Rallies, where are the rallies? This point lasted all of three shots!
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6-6: Tiebreaker it is! Agut holds serve with ease and we're on to the first set tiebreaker.
6-5: Aaaaaand Canada is back ahead. Felix continues to shine with his Herculean serves as he staged another love hold. He closes off the game with a huge ace.
5-5: No hiccups here for Agut. He gave away a breakpoint in his previous service game but is at his clinical best to restore parity once again. Can't help but suggest that with the way these two players are serving it out, we might just be heading toward a tiebreaker.
5-4: Felix failed to break in the previous game but comes back in style to hold serve and remain ahead in this opening set. His serves have looked terrific today and Agut has struggled with his returns, on the rare occasions that he did get to the ball. After 37 minutes, Canada's Felix holds a 5-4 lead.
4-4: What a terrific game of tennis we have here! After three flawless service games, Agut finally concedes his first service point and Felix goes on to pile on the pressure. The Candian plays a sublime forehand winner to earn a breakpoint, but Agut claws his way back to deuce. After a couple of deuce points and seven long minutes, the Spaniard manages to hold serve as Felix undoes all his hardwork with a backhand error.
4-3: Love hold? Love hold. Felix throws down some massive serves, upwards of 200km/h, to continue his impressive start to this Davis Cup final. There honestly isn't a lot to describe...it's just been a contest of thunderous serves and unforced errors.
3-3: Felix sends a forehand long and it is another love-hold for Agut. Felix is looking real sharp and is finding the angles, but hasn't quite found the lines with his groundstrokes just yet.
3-2: Canada is back in front as Felix serves a massive ace to take the fifth game 40-0. It's just been a game of hard-hitting serves so far, with Agut staging a love-hold to pocket the fourth game. Five games in, we've had no breakpoints so far.
2-1 to Canada: Felix was trailing 0-30 but makes a strong comeback to hold serve and take the lead.
First match of the day: Roberto Bautista Agut (Spain) vs Felix Auger Aliassime (Canada).
- So after much pomp and fervour, we will finally have some tennis now! stay tuned.
- Canada won a thrilling tie against Russia to seal a place in the final for the first time, while Spain edged past host Great Britain in the semifinals.
Spain made it to the Davis Cup 2019 final in style after Rafael Nadal and Feliciano Lopez stomed past Great Britain. A gripping semifinal saw the singles split and the tie came down to drama in the doubles on Saturday.
The Spanish duo, in front of a partisan crowd in Madrid, survived a major test as Nadal and Lopez needed two tie-breaks to fend off Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski.
With Andy Murray roaring on the British team from courtside, his older brother and Skupski pushed Nadal and Lopez through two intense sets before falling just short, losing 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (10-8).
The British pair had set points to take it to a decider, but Spain, and Nadal in particular with one sublime overhead after a brilliant reach, produced their best when the pressure was at its greatest.
It was always likely Britain would need Kyle Edmund to win his singles rubber and he duly delivered with a 6-3 7-6 (7-3) win against Lopez – a late stand-in for the injured Pablo Carreno Busta.
But Nadal coasted to a 6-4, 6-0 beating of Dan Evans, who tailed off after putting up a valiant effort in the first set against his more illustrious opponent.
Canada comes through
Earlier, Canada reached the Davis Cup final for the first time in its history by winning a similarly thrilling tie against Russia.
Denis Shapovalov kept Canada in with a chance by beating Karen Khachanov 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 after Andrey Rublev overcame Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 6-4.
And the Canadian duo defeated their Russian rivals 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) in a thrilling deciding doubles rubber.
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