BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain retained the Davis Cup by winning the doubles match yesterday to take an insurmountable 3-0 lead over the Czech Republic in the final.

Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco beat Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych, 7-6 (7), 7-5, 6-2, in the deciding match on clay at Palau Sant Jordi.

Spain, who won their fourth title since 2000, are the first country since Sweden in 1998 to defend the trophy.

Spain, who took advantage of Berdych’s shaky serve for three of their four breaks. But it was Stepanek’s shot into the net on match point that handed Spain the title at the same venue where they took their first title nine years ago.

Lopez threw his wrist band to Crown Prince Felipe after the team bench emptied to chants of “Campeones!” — or Champions!

Verdasco also overcame early jitters to help clinch the title for the second straight year by scoring two key breaks, including in the 11th game of the second set. The ninth-ranked player won the deciding singles match in Argentina last year.

Spain are now the sixth most successful team in the competition’s 108-year history after the United States (32 titles), Australia (28), France and Britain (9) and Sweden (7).

Czech captain Jaroslav Navratil opted for Berdych and Stepanek — who were 5-0 in Davis Cup doubles coming into the match — instead of original picks Lukas Dlouhy and Jan Hajek despite both players losing their singles matches on Friday.

Berdych lost to Rafael Nadal while Stepanek blew a two-set advantage in a grueling 4-hour defeat to David Ferrer.

Spain’s mastery on clay continued as they stretched their unbeaten run on the red surface to 20 ties. The Spaniards are unbeaten at home since 1999 — a run of 18 opponents. They are only the fourth team to defend their title since the format changed in 1972.