Rafael Nadal bursts out of slump at Davis Cup final

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Rafael Nadal admitted to being ‘a little nervous’ before his Davis Cup final match Friday against Juan Monaco -- but that’s a lot better than feeling less passionate about the game, which is how he said he felt last week after a subpar performance at the ATP world finals.

Turns out Nadal had little to be nervous about and showed plenty of passion in a 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Monaco to give Spain a 1-0 lead over Argentina.

“I was a little nervous at the start but after I broke him, I started playing well,” said Nadal, who dropped the first game before winning the next seven.

Nadal has not dropped a set in Davis Cup play in over three years and is 19-1 overall in singles play.

“The best part of my game was I didn’t make mistakes,’ he said. ‘The most important thing is we’re up 1-0.’

It definitely helped that Nadal was playing on his favored clay surface in front of a home crowd of about 27,000, including King Juan Carlos, at Olympic Stadium in Seville. Nadal improved to 12-0 in the Davis Cup on clay, a surface on which Spain hasn’t lost in 22 ties at the event.

ALSO:

Magic Johnson says he’s bidding for the Dodgers

A gut check for UCLA in Pac-12 title game against Oregon

Where should Donovan McNabb spend the rest of the season?

-- Chuck Schilken

The Associated Press contributed to this report.