BARCELONA (Reuters) – Spain completed a 5-0 Davis Cup final victory over Czech Republic with Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer enjoying easy singles wins yesterday.

Nadal, who set Spain on their way to victory by winning the first point against Tomas Berdych on Friday, returned to the clay court at the Palau Sant Jordi to help himself to a 6-3 6-4 win over Jan Hajek.

Ferrer, whose exhausting five-set victory over Radek Stepanek had given Spain their second point, rounded things off with a more straightforward 6-4 6-2 win against Lukas Dlouhy, finishing off with a huge smash to the delight of the crowd.

Spain made certain of their fourth Davis Cup win when they moved into a 3-0 lead after Saturday's doubles victory for Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez against Berdych and Stepanek.

The two closing victories yesterday made them the first team to win the final with a whitewash since Sweden beat the United States 5-0 in 1997. They are also the first country to successfully defend the title since the Swedes in 1998.

There was a slightly muted air about the celebrations when the Spanish team finally received the silver salad bowl trophy.

"It is a little strange to have to wait until today for the presentations," Spanish captain Albert Costa said in a news conference.

"But winning the Davis Cup two years in a row is a spectacular achievement. We should value it enormously."

It was a satisfying weekend all round for the hosts, with Nadal showing he has recovered form and fitness at the end of a trying season and Ferrer's heroic win over Stepanek providing epic drama with a happy ending for the huge crowd.

"This was the end to the season I needed," said Nadal. "Winning again is a great feeling and a major achievement, particularly considering the problems I've had.

"Being able to enjoy this with my team-mates and receive all the support from the crowd has been terrific over the three days."

Victory marked a perfect end to a season that started in equally glorious fashion for Nadal, with his triumph at the Australian Open.

However, his season was spoiled by a knee injury which forced him to miss the defence of his Wimbledon crown and had commentators wondering if his career had already peaked.

Back on clay, there were signs in his win over Berdych on Friday that his confidence was returning. The winners were fizzing off his racquet once again and he looked sharp in a 6-3 6-4 success against Hajek yesterday.

The six-times Grand Slam winner revelled in the warm support of the crowd at the Palau Sant Jordi and he even gave the trophy a triumphant bite during the presentation.

"There have been great moments and not so great moments but I can't say this has been a bad year," the 23-year-old added.

"I won my first Grand Slam tournament on hardcourt, three Masters and Barcelona. At the start of the year I would have accepted that.

"Now we have the Davis Cup and we should keep in mind that it's going to be very difficult to win again.

"I've always said you have to savour the moment when you win things. One day you can just stop winning so you have to make the most of it. It's been a while since I won a trophy."

Nadal will take no more than a couple of days off before beginning his preparations for next season. He said there were no plans to do anything differently this year and pledged to continue fighting to get back to peak form.

"You have to accept that in life there are always problems and work to overcome them," he said. "It's what I've always done and I'm going to carry on."