Spain have finally won a Davis Cup by BNP Paribas doubles rubber, and what an important one it could prove to be! Tommy Robredo and Rafael Nadal beat Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra in five sets to give Spain a 2-1 lead going into the final day of their semifinal against France in the Alicante bullring.

The doubles has always proved a problem for Spain. One of the keys in turning a squad of impressive singles players into a team that could win the Davis Cup in 2000 was the discovery of an effective doubles team, the buccaneering Juan Balcells complimenting the subtle and cerebral skills of Alex Corretja.

Since then Spain have again had difficulty winning on Saturdays, and came into this semifinal with defeats in their last four doubles. But in Nadal and Robredo, the Spaniards have, if not a great pair, at least a good one, which seems to be going from strength to strength. They are a nice blend of the calm Robredo, and the intensely competitive Nadal, who is still only 18 and bounced about the court, whipping himself and the crowd into a frenzy whenever he and Robredo hit an important shot.

Though they have played well in nine tournaments on the ATP tour, winning the title in Chennai and reaching the US Open semifinals, they had not won a Davis Cup doubles together until this 76(4) 46 62 26 63 triumph. And they were assisted before the match began by the withdrawal of Fabrice Santoro.

The Frenchman, who with Llodra has won two Australian Open titles, woke up to find his left wrist so sore he could hardly hold a racket. He played his unfinished singles against Juan Carlos Ferrero to a conclusion, Ferrero taking the three games he needed to win 63 61 16 63, but then announced he would have to miss not only the doubles but at least three weeks of the tour.

That turned a doubles in which the French were favourites into a genuine 50:50, and it proved a match of fluctuating fortunes.

Though the French broke Robredo to lead 5-3 first set, the Spaniards bounced back to take it on the tiebreak, Nadal proving an immense presence at the net. Robredo's serve was proving the Spaniards' Achilles heel, and he was broken twice in the second set as the French levelled the match.

The third saw a flurry of breaks from 2-1, Spain breaking three times to take the set 62. When they opened up a 2-0 lead in the fourth, they seemed to have the match under control, but Llodra and Clement then played their best tennis of the match to reel off six straight games and take the match into a deciding set.

Though Clement was broken in the second game of the final set, the following game on the Robredo serve proved crucial. The French had two break points to get back, but when the marathon game went to the Spaniards, French resistance faded, and Spain won in three and three-quarter hours.

Robredo said after the match: "I think we've been playing well all year and it would have been unfair on us not to have won the point here. We're doing a great job on the ATP and we did well at the US Open, so we're in good shape. I'm just happy to be in the team, but if they need us we're going to be there."

Assuming Spain win one of the two remaining singles, Robredo and Nadal will be there in December's final, presumably against the USA's Bryan twins. But before then, both captains need to decide who to play in the first reverse singles of this semifinal. For Jordi Arrese, the decision is probably simple assuming Carlos Moya has suffered no ill-effects from his five-sets defeat to Paul-Henri Mathieu on Friday, while Guy Forget has to pick one of Clement and Llodra to take on Moya.