Davis Cup: Great Britain miss out on final after losing decisive doubles to Spain

With Nadal receiving little help from Lopez’s returning game, the British pair only dropped five points on serve in an evenly-matched second set.

But they could not transfer that dominance into the receiving games, apart from missed break points at 2-1 and 6-5, as the Spaniards often produced accurate serves at crucial points to alleviate danger.

The tension inside the arena was illustrated perfectly by the demeanour of Andy Murray, who was fidgeting nervously and often looked barely able to watch his older brother.

A wild smash by Lopez suddenly brought up a set point for the Britons, only for the inspired Nadal to land an accurate forehand winner down the line.

The second set point – at 6-4 in the tie-break – went begging when Lopez’s serve was put into the net by Murray, leaving Skupski to try to serve it out.

Nadal somehow reached a short ball with a lob which had the Brits scrambling, to the incredulity of everyone inside the Caja Magica, allowing the world number one to then put a smash between them.

Nadal’s joy was shown by his high leap off the court, with the flag-waving Spanish fans leaping off their seats too.

Britain earned another set point, this time on Nadal’s serve, when Murray stunned a volley at the net, Nadal saving his country again with another perfectly placed crosscourt winner.

Nadal then landed a first serve down the middle which Murray hit into the net to give Spain their first match point at 8-7, only for the 19-time Grand Slam champion to steer a backhand well wide.

Murray put a volley long for 9-8 and a second match point on Lopez’s serve, leaving the home supporters bouncing and chanting ‘Ole, ole, ole!’, before Lopez sealed a memorable victory.

“I thought Jamie and I played a good match. Their guys served really well. We did have our chances, but they came up with big shots at the right time,” Skupski said.