Croatia and Slovakia scored historic Davis Cup victories over powerful opposition yesterday, both reaching the final of the men's international tennis event for the first time.
Ivan Ljubicic provided the heroics for Croatia who finished off Russia in Split while Dominik Hrbaty was the toast of Bratislava after downing Guillermo Coria to end Argentina's hopes.
Slovakia will host December's final for which Croatia's former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic may come out of retirement.
Ljubicic sparked wild celebrations in Split's packed Gripe Sports Hall by pummelling Russia's Nikolay Davydenko 6-3 7-6 6-4.
"I always thought my Olympic bronze medal was the highlight of my career," said Ljubicic, who achieved that feat last year in the doubles with Mario Ancic in Athens. "But this is even better."
In Bratislava Hrbaty also put in a world-class performance to snuff out Coria's chances 7-6 6-2 6-3 and spark similar crowd scenes.
"It was the best atmosphere I've ever played in," smiled Hrbaty on court after his win. "All the people were cheering for me, and I didn't want to disappoint them."
Last year's champions Spain and the United States - winners of a record 31 Davis Cup titles - also had something to cheer yesterday when they retained their elite 16-nation World Group status for next season.
Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero swept aside Daniele Bracciali 6-3 6-0 6-3 to secure a 3-2 win and condemn Italy to a sixth season outside the top flight.
Ferrero's victory in the fifth rubber saved Spain from becoming only the third team in the World Group's 24-year history to be relegated the year after winning the title.
France went down in 1998 and Sweden, winners in 1999, were relegated in 2000.
Andy Roddick came to the United States' rescue, winning a five-set match on clay for only the second time in his career to beat Olivier Rochus 6-7 7-6 7-6 4-6 6-3 and give the visitors an unbeatable 3-1 lead over Belgium.
Switzerland finished off a sorry Britain 5-0 in Geneva with two wins in dead rubbers. The Swiss clean sweep marked Britain's heaviest defeat since they lost 5-0 to the Slovak Republic in April 1995.
World Group semi-finals: Slovakia beat Argentina 4-1; Croatia beat Russia 3-2.
World Group play-offs: Austria vs Ecuador 4-1; Czech Rep. vs Germany 2-3; Italy vs Spain 2-3; India vs Sweden 0-2 (suspended because of bad light); Switzerland vs Britain 5-0; Belgium vs United States 1-4.