Sports

Tuesday July 14, 2009

Spain survive, no escape route for US and Argentina

LONDON: Juan Carlos Ferrero was the unlikely hero for champions Spain as he rode a wave of patriotic fervour to salvage their Davis Cup hopes on Sunday.

While Ferrero was spurred on by a frenzied crowd to ensure Spain squeezed into the semi-finals with a 3-2 win over Germany, there was no escape route for United States and Argentina who were both unceremoniously dumped out.

The Americans, champions a record 32 times, had to win both Sunday’s reverse singles to reach the last four but Marin Cilic brought a swift end to their challenge when he beat James Blake 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 to give Croatia an unbeatable 3-1 lead.

At least Juan Martin del Potro had made sure Argentina’s contest against the Czech Republic would go down to the wire when he trumped Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the first reverse singles to level the tie at 2-2 in Ostrava.

Radek Stepanek had been troubled by a knee injury but appeared to be in a trance as he barely put a foot wrong in a 7-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Juan Monaco to condemn the 2008 runners-up to a 3-2 defeat.

Such is the depth in the Spanish team, Ferrero was playing in the competition for the first time in four years and he made sure his appearance would be a memorable one since Spain were in danger of suffering their first home defeat in 16 ties. — Reuters

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