"We all believed he could do it, and he didn't disappoint us in the least," said the Spanish captain, Jordi Arrese, whose biggest concern for most of his afternoon on the chair seemed to be making sure that the boisterous, occasionally ill-tempered Spanish crowd did not make the logical leap into unsportsmanlike territory.

Not that their players gave them much to complain about. Nadal's victory, only a slight upset on clay, was still quite an accomplishment considering that Roddick beat him in straight sets on a hardcourt at this year's U.S. Open and even more of an accomplishment considering that he missed more than two months this season with a stress fracture in his left foot.

"I have had a very tough year, especially after the injury," Nadal said. "I have been training very hard, and I think I do really deserve this victory."

Turning the tables on Roddick gave Spain a 2-0 lead that has a fine chance of proving insurmountable, considering that the United States has only recovered once in history from such an opening-day deficit and that was in 1934. Spain now needs just one victory in the final three matches on its best surface. Nadal, if he recovers quickly, and his partner Tommy Robredo will get the first chance to clinch Spain's second Davis Cup

against the American twins Bob and Mike Bryan in the doubles on Saturday.

In today's first singles match, Carlos Moya overwhelmed Mardy Fish of the United States by 6-4, 6-2, 6-3. After dropping the first three games as Fish went for his big shots and converted, Moya quickly imposed his will, dictating to Fish from the baseline as the grit that covers this slow court got into the American's groundstrokes and confidence. It was a highly efficient performance from Moya, another former French Open champion who has made a Davis Cup victory his priority ever since he had to watch from the sidelines when Spain won its first title in 2000 in Barcelona.