Albert Ramos-Vinolas battled past a stubborn Cameron Norrie 7-6(4) 2-6 7-6(4) 6-2 to give Spain an unassailable 3-1 lead over Great Britain and a place in April’s Quarter-Finals.
There were 16 breaks in the match as Ramos-Vinolas won the all important fourth rubber to hand Spain victory in Marbella.
The Spaniard lead 4-0 and 5-2 in the opening set as he used his heavy groundstrokes to dictate play. However Norrie used his determination and just like Friday came back into the match, forcing a first set tiebreak.
Despite the World number 21’s shake second serve, he managed to hold off the fearless Brit and take the tiebreak 7-4 for a crucial one set lead.
The world number 114 was undeterred and broke in consecutive games at the end of the second set. The discombobulated Spaniard was confused at how well his opponent played in the second set as he only managed to win two games in the set.
Ramos-Vinolas pressed the reset button and made the perfect start to the third set as he raced to a 3-0 lead. However the Spaniard lost his strong mentality and was broken twice as Norrie came back to 4-3 on serve. As a dramatic third set reached its climax with a tiebreak, Sergi Brugera was becoming animated with the umpire at some of his decisions.
A controversial tiebreak ended with the local crowd erupting as Ramos-Vinolas took a 2 sets to 1 lead and was just one set away from putting Spain into the Quarter-Finals.
Norrie was known for producing some amazing comebacks, but this was one step too far as the Brit ran out of energy and motivation. The Spaniard closed out the match in 3 hours and 47 minutes to seal Spain’s place into the Quarter-Finals.
It was a great effort from the British team, especially Cameron Norrie and if the world number 114 can keep this form up consistently, then he will become a top 30 player in the future.
However it is Spain who are victorious and will now play Germany in the Quarter-Finals of the Davis Cup, which they will once again have home advantage. While Great Britain will play the World Group Play-Offs in September.