Defending champion Spain reached the Davis Cup final for a fourth time in five years after David Ferrer beat John Isner of the U.S. to secure a 3-1 win. Spain will meet the Czech Republic, which defeated Argentina.
Ferrer beat Isner 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in three hours Sunday in the decisive match in Gijon, Spain, to extend his perfect record on clay in the top team competition in men’s tennis to 16 straight wins.
“He’s a guy who never gives up, he’s a gladiator and he knows the way he needs to play on clay, the way he needs to move and hit the ball,” Spain’s Davis Cup captain Alex Corretja said of Ferrer to reporters.
With Spain holding a 3-1 advantage in the best-of-five series, the scheduled match between Nicolas Almagro and Sam Querrey was called off.
The U.S. had kept its chances alive following a win yesterday for Bob and Mike Bryan in the doubles, after Ferrer and Almagro had put Spain in control with singles victories on day one.
Isner won the opening set today in a tiebreak before Ferrer took control. Ferrer made 32 unforced errors compared with 70 for his opponent.
Spain will play the Czech Republic in a repeat of the 2009 final after the Czechs took a 3-1 lead in Buenos Aires.
Tomas Berdych, who’d beaten Argentina’s Juan Monaco in his first singles match, followed up today with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Carlos Berlocq. Berdych and Radek Stepanek beat Berlocq and Eduardo Schwank in yesterday’s doubles.
Spain, which was without the injured Rafael Nadal, has won the title five times in the past 12 years. Serbia is the only other team to claim the trophy since the U.S. had the last of its record 32 titles in 2007.
Spain beat Argentina in the 2008 and 2011 finals, and was host for the 2009 win over the Czech Republic. The Czechs, who will host the November final, won the competition as part of the former Czechoslovakia in 1980.
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