LEAD: Nadal regains his killer clay instinct for 1-0 Spain lead

Dec 2, 2011, 16:37 GMT

Seville, Spain - Rafael Nadal won his 19th Davis Cup singles rubber from 20 played as the Spaniard rediscovered his killer instincts on clay to give his nation 1-0 lead over Argentina with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Juan Monaco on Friday.

The hosts of the final at the worldwide team event will now be counting on David Ferrer to make it 2-0 as he was playing the day's second rubber at the Olympic stadium against Argentine Juan Del Potro.

Nadal, 15-0 in Davis singles, was ruthless in a dismantling of his good friend Monaco in just under two and a half hours in front of what was billed as a record tennis crowd of around 27,500.

So fierce was the Nadal attack in the opening rubber that Monaco needed treatment on hand and knee scrapes as he fell and rolled chasing a Nadal winner which gave the Spanish world number two a break for 3-2 in the third set.

Nadal closed out the victory for a nation which has not lost at home since 1999 with 27 winners and seven breaks of Monaco from 14 chances.

Success came a week after crashing out of the ATP World Tour Finals with two group defeats and morale dragging the ground.

'It was a very solid match,' Nadal said of his effort. 'I played well and without mistakes, especially in the first two sets.

'It was an aggressive match but a tough one, Juan is one of my best friends. This is a big victory and I'm very happy to get the first point for Spain.'

Nadal was untroubled in the first two sets as he dominated his South American friend.

'There were a few very long points, it was a difficult match to win. Juan's a fantastic clay player, we had some great rallies.'

The Spaniard closed out the win on the first of three match points on an unforced error from Monaco, who had not faced Nadal for four years. Nadal improved to 21-5 in his Davis career and 17-2 on clay,

Spain are bidding for a fifth Davis Cup trophy since 2000 after having won in 2000, 2004, 2008 - against the Argentines - and 2009. .

The Spanish have won their last 20 ties at home, with the last loss coming 12 years ago against Brazil - also their last defeat on clay, with 22 consecutive wins since on the surface.