Madrid, Sep 15 (IANS): The Spanish doubles pairing of Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez defeated their Ukrainian opponents of Sergiy Stakhovski and Denys Molchanov 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 to give Spain an unassailable 3-0 lead in their Davis Cup tie and assure the country's position in the World Group of the tennis team competition.

The win in the Caja Magica Madrid Saturday follows on the victories of Nadal and Fernando Verdasco in Friday's two singles rubbers and the Spanish have shown their superiority over their Ukrainian rivals, reports Xinhua.

There was a surprise in the Spanish doubles line up as it was Nadal and not Tommy Robredo who was named to partner Lopez. Nadal had said before the match that he was tired, but would do what he was asked to help the team and it seems as if Spain captain, Alex Corretja had taken the US Open winner at his word.

Spain got off to a perfect start as they broke the first two Ukrainian serves of the first set to race into a 4-0 lead, before going on to win the first set 6-2.

If the Spanish were expecting an easy time, however, they were surprised by the Ukrainian pair who fought back to win the second set on a tie-break.

The Spanish won the third set 6-3 and a service break in the seventh game of the fourth set all but sealed the win.