Spain captured its sixth Davis Cup title Sunday, defeating Canada in the final of the new-look, season-ending competition, which took place Nov. 18-24 in Madrid, Spain.
Led by year-end world No. 1 Rafael Nadal, the team was captained by Sergi Bruguera and featured, along with Nadal, Roberto Bautista Agut, Feliciano Lopez, Pablo Carreno Busta and Marcel Granollers. The Spaniards defeated Croatia, Russia, Argentina, Great Britain and Canada en route to the title.
"It's an amazing feeling and especially share this great moment with all the people that supported us during the whole week is just unforgettable, for all the fans," said Nadal, who won the five singles and three doubles matches he played in Madrid.
During the week, 18 nations competed in six round-robin groups, and the group winners plus the two second-place teams with the best records moved on to the quarterfinals. The four semifinalists (Spain, Canada, Great Britain, Russia) have automatically qualified for the 2020 Davis Cup Finals, with France and Serbia also earning wild cards into next year's event. The remaining spots will be determined in the 2020 Davis Cup Qualifiers, which will be held March 6-7, 2020.
Let's take a look at some of the highlights from last week's Finals in the photos below:
Team Spain celebrates with the trophy after defeating Canada in the 2019 final.
Team Canada—(l to r) Captain Frank Dancevic, Denis Shapovalov, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Brayden Schnur and Vasek Pospisil—pose with their runner-up trophies. The Canadians, whose previous best Davis Cup results were semifinal appearances in 1913 and 2013, beat the United States, Italy, Australia and Russia en route to their first Davis Cup final.
Rafael Nadal celebrates after defeating Denis Shapovalov to clinch the 2019 Davis Cup title for Spain.
Nadal, a four-time Davis Cup champion, won all eight of the matches he played in Madrid and did not drop a set in any of his five singles victories. The 33-year-old Spaniard has now won 29 consecutive Davis Cup singles matches, improving his singles record to 29-1 at the event.
Roberto Bautista Agut gave Spain a 1-0 lead against Canada in the final, with a 7-6, 6-3 win over Felix Auger-Aliassime. The win had extra meaning for the Spaniard, whose father passed away earlier in the week.
Team Canada and Team Spain are introduced to the crowd before the 2019 final begins.
Denis Shapovalov celebrates with Felix Auger-Aliassime and other Team Canada members after winning his singles semifinal match against Karen Khachanov of Russia.
Andy Murray (center) and Kyle Edmund (left) cheer on their British teammates Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski during their semifinal doubles match against Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Feliciano Lopez.
Great Britain's Jamie Murray (right) and Neal Skupski in action against Rafael Nadal and Feliciano Lopez in the semifinals.
Britain's Daniel Evans returns the ball to Rafael Nadal during their singles semifinal match.
Russia's Karen Khachanov, who lost his singles semifinal match to Canadian Denis Shapovalov, was 5-5 in singles and doubles play during the week.
Andrey Rublev (left) picked up the lone win for Russia in the semifinals versus Canada, defeating Vasek Pospisil, 6-4, 6-4. Canada, however, won its next two matches to advance to the final against Spain.
Serbians Novak Djokovic (right) and doubles teammate Viktor Troicki fell to Russia in the quarterfinals, allowing the Russian team to move on to the semifinal round.
Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt (left) speaks with Nick Kyrgios prior to his group-stage match against Steve Darcis of Belgium.
American Taylor Fritz made his Davis Cup debut in the 2019 Finals and finished with a 1-1 record, defeating world No. 8 Matteo Berrettini of Italy, 5-7, 7-6, 6-2, and falling to Denis Shapovalov of Canada, 7-6, 6-3.
