Spain reached their fourth Davis Cup final in five years after David Ferrer gave them a 3-1 semi-final victory over the United States by beating John Isner 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in Gijon, yesterday.
Unimpeded by the absence of injured Rafael Nadal, Spain will travel to the Czech Republic for the final on November 16-18, after the Czechs defeated Argentina in Buenos Aires.
“This is a dream for me – another Davis Cup final,” Ferrer said after his win, which delighted the rowdy home crowd cheering for their beloved “Ferru”.
“It was unbelievable, the atmosphere supported me the whole match,” he added.
The United States had kept the tie alive against the five-time champions with a doubles victory by twins Bob and Mike Bryan on Saturday, but US Open semi-finalist Ferrer, on his favourite red clay, prevailed over Isner, the world number 10.
The six-foot, nine-inch American beat Ferrer in a tie-break in the first set but failed to cement his lead in the second.
The Spaniard dominated the following three sets, powering out of sight in the fourth, his deft returns outfoxing the flagging American who had already fallen to Nicolas Almagro in a four-hour battle on Friday.
Ferrer tamed Isner’s formidable serve and aggressive style with precision returns and passing shots and capitalised on a slew of unforced errors.
“I’m playing the best season of my career, so I’m really happy,” Ferrer said.
“John Isner is a very good player and this tie was never easy.”
It was Ferrer’s 16th Davis Cup victory in a row on clay and Spain’s 24th home Davis victory in a row.
This year’s final will be the ninth they have reached in the competition.
Nadal could make a return for the final in November if he recovers from the knee injury that kept him out of the Olympic Games and the US Open this summer, but Spain’s team coach Corretja avoided speculating about it.
“We will monitor the players over the coming weeks, talk to all those we think appropriate, and go and see what condition they are in and then choose the players we think appropriate for the final,” Corretja said.
The fifth match of the Spain-USA tie, due to be played between Nicolas Almagro and Sam Querrey, was called off.
In Buenos Aires, Tomas Berdych defeated Carlos Berlocq 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 as the Czech Republic secured a 3-1 win over Argentina in the other semi-final.
Berlocq, the world number 45, had been called in to play the singles on Saturday after world number eight Juan Martin Del Potro injured his left wrist in his win over Radek Stepanek in Friday’s opening singles.
November’s final will be a repeat of the 2009 championship match where Spain routed the Czechs 5-0 on clay in Barcelona.
“People think it’s impossible to win in Argentina, but we had belief and proved that it is possible,” said Berdych, who beat Roger Federer on his way to the US Open semi-finals earlier this month.