Davis Cup champs Nadal & company reign in Spain

CHAMPIONSHIP – There’s nothing like a buncha cute Spanish athletes hugging and hanging all over each other.

These guys have a heckuva good reason to celebrate: they are the Spanish Davis Cup team and on Saturday they won the prestigious international title for the second year in a row by defeating the Czech Republic. The title was clinched when the doubles team of Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco won their match.

The team was led by Rafael Nadal, the world’s second-ranked player whose season has been marred with injuries and a loss of confidence. He won the Australian Open in January when he was ranked first in the world but has not won a tournament since May and was unable to defend his Wimbledon title.

It was the fourth team title for Spain since 2000 and the country is the sixth most successful team in the competition’s 108-year history after the United States (32 titles), Australia (28), France and Britain (9) and Sweden (7).