LEAD: Argentines claw back to 1-2 in Davis Cup final

Dec 3, 2011, 18:06 GMT

Seville, Spain - Underdog Argentina clawed back into contention in the Davis Cup final with Spain on Saturday as Eduardo Schwank and David Nalbandian dominated all the way through in a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 doubles win over Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco.

The result in less than two hours put the visitors on the board at the Olympic stadium and took the tie into Sunday's reverse singles.

Rafael Nadal will have Spanish victory in his hands when he plays fellow Grand Slam champion Juan Martin del Potro, the 2009 US Open winner who lost on Friday to Spain's David Ferrer in five sets and nearly five hours.

Ferrer is lined up to face Juan Monaco if necessary as Spain bid for a fifth title in the worldwide team competition since beginning a run to glory in 2000.

Argentina, who are in their fourth final, having lost at their three previous attempts, including a loss against Spain in 2008, remain in a fight for life after the doubles domination.

Nalbandian, who turns 30 on New Year's Day, was wisely held back in singles to lead the team attack against the patchy Spanish pair.

'This is Davis Cup, I get very motivated when I play for my country,' said Nalbandian, the 2002 Wimbledon finalist. 'We both played a great match from start to finish.

'This was an unbelievable win for us.'

The veteran said that the key to victory was total concentration.

'We stayed focused and never let up. We knew we had to do this. We still have chances in the final, we made it happen today.'

Schwank and Nalbandian never let the Spaniards into the match on indoor clay, with early breaks in all three sets. The quiet Schwank now stands 18-2 on clay in Davis play.

After taking a two-sets-to-love lead, the Argentines began the third set with a break of the fragile Verdasco, second one of the afternoon for the visitors, who never lost serve.

Nalbandian fired his team's seventh ace in the sixth game to save a break point and provided a winner to finally take a 4-2 lead.

Verdasco was the weakest link on match point as he produced a concluding volley error on match point in the loss.

Spain are playing their third final in the past four years and have not been beaten at home since Brazil did it in 1999. The Spaniards lost finals in 1965, 1967 and 2003 to Australia and lead Argentina 3-0 in their series.