Davis Cup

Spain drew level 1-1 with Argentina in the Davis Cup final on Friday when Feliciano Lopez beat the injured Juan Martin del Potro in four sets.

Del Potro, ranked ninth in the world, swept through the first set in 38 minutes after breaking serve in the fifth game.

Lopez won the next two sets on tiebreaks before Del Potro, already struggling with a toe injury, suffered what appeared to be a pulled muscle in his right leg in the sixth game of the fourth.

Argentina got off to the perfect start in their bid for a first Davis Cup title when David Nalbandian beat Spain's David Ferrer 6-3 6-2 6-3 in Mar del Plata.

Argentina’s David Nalbandian will face Spain’s David Ferrer on Friday in the opening match of the Davis Cup final.

Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina’s top-ranked player at No. 9, was drawn Thursday to play Feliciano Lopez in the second singles match of the best-of-five series.

“Juan Martin had a slight preference to play second,” Argentina captain Alberto Mancini said. “And the fact that David is first is good because he has more experience.”

Argentina's David Nalbandian has said that he hopes their football national team coach Diego Maradona turns up for the Davis Cup final against Spain.

Spain captain Emilio Sanchez Vicario has ignored the world rankings as he chose Feliciano Lopez as his second singles player ahead of Fernando Verdasco for the Davis Cup final against Argentina.

 Draw for the Davis Cup final between Argentina and Spain in Mar del Plata from Friday to Sunday (Argentine names first, all times GMT):

Friday's singles (play starts 1500)

David Nalbandian v David Ferrer

Juan Martin del Potro v Feliciano Lopez

Saturday's doubles (1600)

Jose Acasuso/Agustin Calleri v Fernando Verdasco/Lopez

Sunday's reverse singles (1400)

Del Potro v Ferrer

Nalbandian v Lopez

World number one Rafael Nadal will be back at his peak for the start of the 2009 season, Spanish tennnis federation (RFET) doctor Angel Ruiz Cotorro was quoted as saying.

Nadal had to pull out of the season-ending Masters Cup and Spain's Davis Cup final against Argentina after suffering from tendinitis in his right knee.

"He will begin the year 2009 at the highest possible level," Ruiz Cotorro said in an interview with As newspaper.

Argentina hosts two-time former champion Spain in the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group final from 21-23 November at the Estadio Islas Malvinas in Mar del Plata. The final will be contested on an indoor hard-court at a stadium that seats 11,132 spectators. Spain has a 2-0 record against Argentina, with clay-court victories coming in 1926 and 2003.

On the upside, Argentina’s chances of defeating Spain to capture its first Davis Cup have increased with the absence of injured No. 1 Rafael Nadal.

Yet the players know being the favorites in front of a demanding home crowd could work against them, despite winning 13 straight Davis Cup matches as hosts.

“This is such a dream for all of us, that it’s possible that the anxiety, stress and nerves play against you,” Juan Martin del Potro said Wednesday, ahead of the weekend final. “It’s such a passionate experience.”

In theory, two players are all a country needs to win the Davis Cup. In practice, it almost never works out that way.