Ferrero win seals victory for Spain over Germany

Juan Carlos Ferrero beat Andreas Beck 6-4 6-4 6-4 to seal a 3-2 victory for champions Spain over Germany in their Davis Cup quarter-final yesterday.

Spain were in danger of suffering a first home defeat in 16 ties after Philipp Kohlschreiber repelled a stirring Fernando Verdasco fightback in the first reverse singles to level the tie at 2-2.

But captain Albert Costa's gamble to play Ferrero in the reverse singles instead of Tommy Robredo, who lost in straight sets to Kohlschreiber on Friday, paid off as the former world number one dispatched the inexperienced Beck with relative ease.

Spain will again have home advantage in the semi-finals against surprise package Israel, who stunned Russia to qualify for their first ever Davis Cup semi-final.

Croatia host the Czech Republic in the other last-four tie after the Croats dispatched the United States in Porec and the Czechs beat last year's runners-up Argentina in Ostrava.

Kohlschreiber dominated Verdasco in the opening two sets in the earlier singles but appeared to wilt in the searing heat at the adapted bullring in Marbella before digging deep to close out a 6-4 6-2 1-6 2-6 8-6 victory.

Verdasco saved a match point at 5-3 down in the final set but Kohlschreiber steadied himself and converted his second in the 14th game with a return winner down the line to give Germany a chance of a first appearance in the semi-finals since 2007.

Ferrero wobbled when serving for the match at 5-2 in the third set when Beck broke his serve but the 29-year-old made no mistake the second time to send the boisterous capacity crowd wild with delight.

In Ostrava, Czech Radek Stepanek produced an inspired performance to dump Argentina out of the Davis Cup following a 7-6 6-3 6-2 win over Juan Monaco.

Argentine Juan Martin del Potro had ensured the contest would go down to the wire by beating Tomas Berdych 6-4 6-4 6-4 in the first reverse singles to level the tie at 2-2.

With so much at stake, Czech captain Jaroslav Navratil opted to replace Ivo Minar with Stepanek even though the world no.21 was struggling with a knee problem.

Stepanek repaid his captain's faith by easily outwitting Monaco to condemn the 2008 runners-up to an early exit.

"It is unbelievable," Stepanek said after receiving a standing ovation from the crowd.

"I did not have energy to spare and tried to collect one point after another."

The Czechs last reached the semis in 1996 and won their only Davis Cup title in 1980 when they were still part of Czechoslovakia.

Quarter-finals: Czech Rep. vs Argentina 3-2; Croatia vs US 3-2; Israel vs Russia 4-1; Spain vs Germany 3-2.

Semi-finals (Sept. 18-20): Spain vs Israel; Croatia vs Czech Republic.