Spain through to semi-finals after epic doubles

Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez won an epic doubles against Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber and Philipp Petzschner 6-7 7-6 6-4 2-6 12-10 to take Spain into the semis of the Davis Cup yesterday.

Spain, in control of the tie after singles wins for Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer, took a 3-0 winning lead as they saw off the German pair in four hours 45 minutes on the indoor hard court at the AWD Dome.

Spain, Davis Cup winners in 2000 and 2004, will go on to face either the United States or France in the semi-finals in September.

After four sets of error-strewn tennis from both sides, the match came down to a thrilling decider. It stayed with serve, and with Spain always having their noses in front it meant the Germans had to show nerves of steel to stay in the match.

Kohlschreiber was first up, the German number one holding on at 4-5. Petzschner matched his achievement at 5-6 and on it went, as neither side managed to force a break.

Germany continued to hold serve with few problems until Kohlschreiber, two break points down, hit the top of the net with a full-blooded forehand and saw the ball fly off agonisingly wide of the line.

Germany had earlier fought back from 0-3 down to force the first-set tiebreak, which they took 7-3.

Spain hit back in the second, taking the tiebreak 7-1, and with the momentum now with them they snatched the third set at the death.

The Germans played their best tennis as they fought to stay alive in the fourth, forcing a decider with two breaks of serve to set up the memorable finale.

In Moscow, world number four Nikolay Davydenko returned to action yesterday when he teamed up with Igor Andreev to give Russia a 2-1 lead in the quarter-final against the Czech Republic.

Russian captain Shamil Tarpishchev had left out Davydenko from Friday's singles after he flew in late to Moscow following his triumph in Miami last weekend.

Feeling fresh after enjoying a rest day, Davydenko joined forces with Andreev and the duo outfought the Czech team of Pavel Vizner and Radek Stepanek 3-6 6-3 7-5 6-4 to give the hosts the psychological edge ahead of today's reverse singles.

Quarter-finals: US vs France 2-0; Germany vs Spain 0-3; Russia vs Czech Rep. 2-1; Argentina vs Sweden 2-1.