“Remember the Red Sox,” Mardy Fish told his American teammates after they went down 2-0 to Spain on the first day of the Davis Cup final this weekend. If the Sox could climb out of a 3-0 hole against the Yankees, then why not us?

The sentiment was a noble one, but unlike the Red Sox, Fish and his teammates were forced to play by their opponent’s rules on slow red clay. Despite a great effort, Spain had too many tricks and too delicate a touch for the hard-court sluggers from America.

Carlos Moya, Spain’s top player, sealed the victory yesterday with a 6-2, 7-6(1), 7-6(5) win over Andy Roddick before a roaring crowd of more than 27,000, the largest ever to attend a tennis match. It was Spain’s second Davis Cup title; they won their first in 2000. In a meaningless match that followed, Fish defeated substitute Tommy Robredo 7-6(8), 6-2 to make the final score 3-2.

Moya sprinted through the first four games against Roddick, breaking his opponent’s serve twice. Roddick earned an opening in the second set when he broke Moya for a 3-1 lead, but he fired two double faults in the next game. The Spaniard broke back when Roddick pushed a sitter wide with a forehand volley.

From there, Moya was never threatened while Roddick looked uncomfortable. As Moya, a former French Open champion, glided into every groundstroke and perfectly disguised drop shot after drop shot, Roddick stumbled or wandered too far from the baseline, leaving himself out of position.

Roddick valiantly saved a match point at 4-5 in the third set and two more in the tiebreak, but the match was lost when he netted a backhand return. Moya, injured in 2000,fell to the ground to savor his first Davis Cup victory.

Roddick had a better chance in his first-round match against 18-year-old Rafael Nadal on Friday, when the American won the first set and held a 6-5 lead in the third-set tiebreak. Nadal, clearly tired but buoyed by the crowd at his back, showed tremendous nerve and pulled off a 6-7(8), 6-2, 7-6(6), 6-2 victory.

The one bright spot for the Americans were twins Bob and Mike Bryan, who romped to a 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 victory in doubles on Saturday against Juan Carlos Ferrero and Robredo.

In the end, the Americans left Seville looking a bit like the Yankees: They’ve won more Davis Cups (31) than any country, but none since 1995. As Red Sox fans were once wont to say, there’s always next year.