TENNIS in DEPTH.

Stosur beat out fellow WTA player Jarmila Gajdosova and ATP World Tour players Bernard Tomic and Matthew Ebden for this year’s Newcombe Medal. ”Bernard, Jarka and Matt all had good years – up until the US Open I don’t think I was winning this award tonight,” Stosur said. “Tennis can change quickly and you have to be ready to take advantage of moments when they come. ”Tennis history in Australia is absolutely huge. We’ve always had really great champions. We were lacking a little on the women’s side, but now everything’s coming together, and we’ll see better and better results in the future.”

The awards ceremony was a nice change for Stosur. “It’s fun to get dressed up and enjoy these moments. These nights don’t happen all the time, so when they do you have got to really embrace it and enjoy it. Tonight has been another fantastic night. It’s something really special to come together as the big tennis community we are and share these awards together.”

Stosur’s home Grand Slam, the Australian Open, is just around the corner. “I ended 2011 really well. Of course the US Open, but then playing well in Turkey too. I’ve come off a good break and I feel refreshed and ready to go again. Now it’s just a matter of knuckling down and doing my work on and off the court. If you prepare as best you can, hopefully you’ll get the best results possible.”

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Rafael Nadal’s Davis Cup moment has truly arrived. The minute he collapsed onto the red clay after winning the 2011 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas title for Spain, the entire 24,000-seat stadium did so with him. Even the Argentine fans, many in tears, couldn’t deny him his glory after the world the No. 2 came back from a disastrous first set to defeat Juan Martin del Potro 16 64 61 76(0) and clinch Spain its fifth Davis Cup title in Seville. Sobbing on the shoulders of teammates Juan Monaco and David Nalbandian, del Potro in everyone’s eyes was still a winner as the heart and determination he displayed in the 4 hour 8 minute war was second to none. The win gifted Nadal his 20th straight singles win in Davis Cup, having not lost a match since his debut in 2004, but handed a gut-wrenched Argentina its fourth loss in four finals, the only team to play and lose that many titles in Davis Cup history. The sorrow and the glory on the faces of both teams summed up what was one of the biggest Davis Cup ties the competition has seen.

After victory, Nadal fittingly hugged each and every one of the Argentine team members before running over to Carlos Moya in the stands to embrace his friend who had done exactly the same thing for Spain seven years ago on the very same court.

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Captain Tito Vazquez has a huge decision to make ahead of the reverse singles on who might have the better chance against Nadal, who simply outclassed Juan Monaco on Friday. The current line-up sees del Potro take up the challenge with Nalbandian saved for the fifth rubber should it go down to the wire. After today’s performance however, there were mutterings of Nalbandian perhaps having the greater fight to take on Nadal, given del Potro’s knackered state after being run ragged by Ferrer in five sets. Good news for Argentina though: he “feels good”, he says.

An outstanding performance from David Nalbandian and Eduardo Schwank in Saturday’s doubles rubber has forced the 2011 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Final in Seville into a third day. Argentina’s scratch pairing embarrassed Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco into a 64 62 63 defeat, meaning the Final heads into Sunday’s first match between, as it stands, Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro with Spain leading 2-1. Nalbandian and Roland Garros doubles runner-up Schwank may have only ever played one tournament together back in 2008, but they still came into the match as slight favourites, largely due to the man from Cordoba, Nalbandian. A magical Davis Cup player, the 29 year-old pulled his best out of the bag for this match and was barely faultless with the solid support of his doubles specialist partner. “That’s Davis Cup,” said the veteran. “I really like it, I play better when I’m playing for my country and today we both played a great match from the beginning and it was unbelievable for us.”

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