Reports of Rafael Nadal's decline greatly exaggerated

Rafa Nadal lit up the Davis Cup final with a line-clipping, fist-pumping, shirt-drenching reminder on Friday of the qualities that brought him four French Open titles and made him an irresistible force on clay.

His 7-5 6-0 6-2 victory over Tomas Berdych set Spain on their way to a 2-0 lead, with David Ferrer winning an epic five-setter with Radek Stepanek for the second point, and showed reports of Nadal's decline have been greatly exaggerated.

After taking his first Australian Open title at the start of the year, the 23-year-old Nadal has had to endure a miserable 2009, wrecked by injury and a dip in form.

hree defeats in three matches at the ATP World Tour Finals in London had commentators writing off not just his season but also his chances of re-establishing himself as the game's top player.

The doubters, however, forgot about the invigorating power of the Davis Cup. "I always feel I'm more of a team player than a singles player," Nadal told reporters after his victory on Friday. "It's a pleasure for me to represent my country ... and play for me and my friends."

With the 16,200 crowd offering noisy support around the clay court at the indoor Palau Sant Jordi, Nadal played his way out of a spot of early trouble before rediscovering his best form.

Serving to stay in the first set at 4-5, the Mallorcan slipped 0-30 down. The next point proved a pivotal one. Nadal played a drop shot from an unlikely position out wide near the baseline and Berdych seemed so surprised that even though he reached the ball comfortably he could only scoop it into the net.

Nadal took the game after contesting a call, with the umpire finally agreeing with him after getting down from his chair, and broke Berdych at the next attempt. 

The next two sets were one-sided as Nadal was untouchable on his own serve and reeled off a series of deft winners.

Berdych kept scrapping but Nadal, on this form and on this surface, is simply invincible.

"After the first set I played longer, closer to the lines, and could control the points," he said. "I just stopped making mistakes."