Spain produced a stunning comeback to defeat Czechia in the Davis Cup quarter-finals on Thursday.
The Spanish squad, who were missing Carlos Alcaraz, found themselves in a 0-1 hole after Pablo Carreno Busta lost to Jakub Mensik in the opening rubber.
However, Jaume Munar, ranked 36th in the world, gave Spanish fans hope after defeating world number 17 Jiri Lehecka: 6-3, 6-4.
In the deciding rubber, Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martinez defeated Mensik and Tomas Machac 7-6, 7-6; saving set points in both sets.
Ferrer, who has captained Spain since 2022, offered his thoughts after the tie.
David Ferrer says he is ‘very proud’ of his players
During the post-match press conference, Ferrer was asked whether he was nervous during the deciding doubles contest.
Ferrer said: “Well, of course I’m nervous when tie is very close. Against Czech, they are good team, doubles, singles as well.
“I’m very proud of my players. They compete two singles and the doubles. They play really good. Yeah, happy for them because now we are in semifinal. Now it’s time to enjoy tonight, and tomorrow we’ll see against who we’re going to play.”
The Spaniard was then asked to comment on the resilience of his squad.
Today was not the first time this Spanish team had fought from the brink. In the Davis Cup qualifiers, the team battled from 0-2 against Denmark to win 3-2.
“Well, of course for us to be in the Finals, it’s a gift,” Ferrer began.
“We had match point down on Pedro. He was a hero in Marbella. Now again. He’s Davis Cup player. He competes really good.
“Well, I knew that today was a tough tie. I think everyone, we knew that. Nothing else. Pablo at the end, he compete all the match. Bad luck. In the end, Jakub Mensik deserve to win.
“In the second match, Jaume, he served really good. He plays one of his, my opinion, best matches on tour, on indoor court.
“The doubles, of course, with Marcel and Pedro, in my opinion I have the best doubles player in the world. Is easier for me because at the end he’s the leader of the team. In the important moments, he knows what he has to do. He was very brave in important points at the end of the set.
“Yeah, I’m really happy for Marcel, and of course for Pedro, too, to live these moments.”
Carlos Alcaraz was most certainly pleased by Thursday’s result, reacting to his country’s success on social media.
Pedro Martinez thanks Jakub Mensik for his tie-clinching double fault
At 8-9 in the second set tiebreak, world number 19 Jakub Mensik stepped up to the baseline.
Unfortunately for the Czech star, he served a double fault, handing the Spaniards both the match and the tie.
Pedro Martinez, one half of the Spanish doubles pairing, thanked the Czech player for double-faulting, saying he was ‘praying’ for a double fault.
During the post-match press conference, Martinez and Granollers were asked about the importance of being doubles specialists while contesting such a match, and Martinez was asked to comment on the match-concluding double fault from Mensik.
Granollers said: “I mean, it’s important for me now that I’m playing doubles, so I feel more comfortable playing doubles, of course, because now I only practice specific things for doubles, more than before when I was playing singles.
“I mean, with Pedro, we played few matches in Davis Cup already that we played in a good level. Pedro also play during the year in the ATP Tour doing great results. He’s already doubles player also. I think we have good chemistry. We know each other. We know how we can play good. Yeah, we fight hard. We try our best always.”
Martinez added: “For me, thanks Jakub for the double-fault. What can I say? In that moment, you just pray to make a double-fault because we didn’t want to hit the return.
“Of course, on that moment it’s a big gift, a double-fault [smiling].”
