Nadal, grieving Bautista Agut lead Spain to Davis Cup title

Rafael Nadal gave all he had on the Caja Mágica center court in Madrid.

The top-ranked Spanish star even admitted he risked getting injured by playing eight matches   five singles, three doubles   in six days at the Davis Cup Finals, the new World Cup of tennis, The Associated Press (AP) reported.

Nadal won all of them, leading Spain to its sixth Davis Cup title after a 2-0 win over first-time finalist Canada on Sunday.

But in Nadal’s view, the only hero for Spain was grieving teammate Roberto Bautista Agut. He sent Spain on its way to victory by winning the first singles match on Sunday, three days after the death of his father.

"I’ve won the eight matches but the person who was vital in this Davis Cup was Roberto," Nadal said.

 "For me, what he did was something almost inhumane. I don’t know how to explain it. It will be an example for the rest of my life. He had to leave, then his dad died, then he came back and practiced with us yesterday, and today he was ready again to play at a very high level. It was something incredible."

Voted the tournament’s best player, Nadal sealed the title with his 29th straight Davis Cup singles win, igniting the home crowd’s celebrations.

Tournament organizer and Barcelona soccer star Gerard Piqué, his wife Shakira   who performed in the closing ceremony   and Spanish King Felipe VI were among those celebrating Spain’s triumph.

Spain’s other Davis Cup titles were in 2000, ’04, ’08, ’09 and 11’.

Canada was seeking its first Davis Cup title since debuting in the competition in 1913.