New Delhi, September 18: Marc Lopez and David Ferrer won their respective reverse singles rubbers as Spain completed a comprehensive 5-0 win over India in their Davis Cup World Group Play-off tie at the R.K. Khanna Tennis Stadium here on Sunday.
Lopez defeated Davis Cup debutant Sumit Nagal 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, while Ferrer got the better of 21-year-old Chennai lad Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-2, 6-2.
Spain, who had taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match tie earlier by winning the opening day's two singles and the doubles rubber on Saturday, have returned to the World Group after a gap of two years.
Egged on by the noisy and energetic home crowd which broke into intermittent bouts of energetic bhangra to the beats of the dhol, both Indian players produced spirited performances although their lack of experience cost them in the end.
Nagal produced a spirited performance on his Davis Cup debut against the much higher ranked Lopez in a contest which lasted for over two hours.
Despite losing the opening set, he staged a strong comeback to win the second and draw level.
The 19-year-old from Jhajjar district of Haryana wrested the upper hand in the initial stages of the third set as well, before struggling with stomach cramps and breathing problems towards the end which saw him require a medical timeout.
"He had some breathing problems. It got worse towards the end and he could barely move," India's non-playing captain Anand Amritraj said.
"Just goes to show how much we have to improve to compete with Spain or other teams."
