Spain has won the Davis Cup six times (2000, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2019) and finished second four times (1965, 1967, 2003, 2012), making it one of tennis' most strong countries.
They are the current world champions after defeating the United States in an epic final last year in Madrid.
Spanish players have been very successful on the ATP Tour, with nine men's singles titles and three women's singles titles to their name.
In fact, only American players have won more matches on that tour than Spanish players.
Below is a list of all the men's singles titles won by Spanish players:
Agustín Agut (2001, 2002) - Mallorca
Andy Murray (2012, 2013) - Barcelona
Feliciano Lopez (2009) - Madrid
Juan Martín del Potro (2014) - Buenos Aires
Rafael Nadal (2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2018) - Palma de Mallorca
Xavier Malisse (2003) - Brussels
World Tennis Championships The Davis Cup is the tennis equivalent of the World Cup. Dwight Davis launched the greatest annual international team tournament in the world in 1900. The United Kingdom is the only country to have competed in every edition of the event and has won the trophy 10 times, most recently in 2015.
The current format of the Davis Cup was introduced in 1975 when it was renamed in honor of American athlete and businessman William Davis who had died a few months before. Previous to this change, the competition was known as the International Lawn Tennis Challenge (ILTC).
In 2014, France secured its first Davis Cup title in nearly 80 years after winning 3-2 against Australia in the final match at a packed Court One in London. French player Pierre Hugues Herbert claimed the first of his two victories with a straight sets win over Australian star Bernard Tomic. This marks the first time that any nation other than the United States has lifted the Davis Cup.
France has been one of the most successful nations in Davis Cup history, having won the cup on five occasions. The country's last victory came in 1978 when they defeated Sweden in the final in San Francisco.
Sweden would go on to win the cup twice more during the 1980s. However, France has regained its status as a major force in tennis by becoming the first country other than the United States to win the cup since its name changed in 1975.
Spain is one of the eight national teams to have won the World Cup, having competed in 15 of the 21 FIFA World Cups and qualifying consecutively since 1978. Spain has also won three regional championships and has competed in ten of the fifteen UEFA European Championships.
Spain's first World Cup was in 1934 when they finished third behind Italy and Germany. Since then they have not been able to improve on this position, with their best result being second place in 1982. They have failed to advance beyond the group stage on five occasions.
Their most recent World Cup was in 2010 where they were eliminated by England in the quarter-finals. Before that they had been knocked out in the group stages on three other occasions (1974, 1978, and 2002).
Spain has one of the strongest football cultures in Europe and its team is widely regarded as one of the greatest in history. The current national team coach is Julen Lopetegui who took over from Vicente del Bosque after the 2014 World Cup. Del Bosque resigned following the Spanish federation's decision to sack him for telling a newspaper he thought it would be "unfair" if Spain lost to France in the final of the tournament. The Spaniard had been accused of leaking information about his team's preparations to French journalists. His resignation came just two days before the start of the World Cup finals in Brazil.
Spain became the first nation to retain the European Championship, winning it again in 2012, where they set a tournament record for the longest continuous minutes without allowing a goal (509). Casillas became one of four players to represent Spain at four World Cups in 2014. He made his debut in 2001 and was named player of the tournament after Spain defeated Greece 4-1 in the last 16.
Casillas has won 80 caps for Spain and was part of the team that finished as runners-up at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He is considered one of the best goalkeepers in world football and has been selected for the UEFA Team of the Year on five occasions.
He began his career with local club La Coruna before joining Portuguese giants Porto in 1995. It took him three seasons to be named captain but he still managed to score seven goals himself during that time. In 1998, Casillas returned to Spain and joined national teammate Xabi Alonso at former club Real Madrid.
He has since gone on to become one of the most respected players in Europe and has won several trophies with Los Blancos including two UEFA Champions League titles, one in each of his years at the club.
In 2004, Casillas helped Spain win the UEFA Euro Championships. The following year he was part of the Spanish squad that finished second at the Olympic Games in Athens.
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