Ferrer leads Spain into final

Gijon - 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 on Sunday.

Unfazed by the absence of injured Rafael Nadal, Spain will travel to Argentina or the Czech Republic for the final, depending on which country prevails in the other semi-final due to be decided on Sunday 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 (206-centimetre) 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.

"It's disappointing. The Spanish team was just too good," Isner said after the defeat to Ferrer.

"I had some momentum and a chance to break him and I didn't. He raised his game quite a bit in the second set and throughout the rest of the match."

Ferrer, currently number one in his country's team in Nadal's absence, tamed Isner's formidable serve and aggressive style with precision returns and passing shots and capitalised on a series of unforced errors.

It was Ferrer's 16th Davis Cup victory in a row on clay.

"I'm playing the best season of my career, so I'm really happy," he said after Sunday's match. "John Isner is a very good player and this tie was never easy."

Nadal could make a return for the final in November if he recovers from the knee injury that kept him out of the Olympics and the US Open this summer, but Spain's team coach Corretja avoided speculating about it.

Corretja said that either the Czech Republic team with Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek or Argentina on home ground would present a "very tough" tie for the final.

The United States - the most successful team overall in Davis Cup history with 32 victories - admitted they were not favourites when they came to Spain for the tie.

But under the captaincy of former Grand Slam-winner Jim Courier, they had chalked up back-to-back away wins in Switzerland (5-0), where Isner shocked Roger Federer, and France (3-2), where he defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Argentina's hopes of making the final suffered a double blow on Saturday when they slipped 2-1 down to the Czech Republic and lost top player Juan Martin Del Potro through injury.

He was replaced by world number 45 Carlos Berlocq in Sunday's clash against US Open semi-finalist Tomas Berdych, the sixth-ranked player, before Juan Monaco was scheduled to tackle Stepanek.

Spain, who have dominated the Davis Cup over the past decade, beat Argentina in the final in 2008 and 2011.

The fifth match of the Spain-USA tie in Gijon, due to be played between Nicolas Almagro and Sam Querrey, was called off after Ferrer's victory determined the tie.

Davis Cup semi-finals and World Group play-off results:

World Group semi-finals

Buenos Aires

Argentina 1 Czech Republic 3

Friday

Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) bt Radek Stepanek (CZE) 6-4, 6-4, 6-2

Tomas Berdych (CZE) bt Juan Monaco (ARG) 6-1, 4-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4

Saturday

Tomas Berdych/Radek Stepanek (CZE) bt Carlos Berlocq/Eduardo Schwank (ARG) 6-3, 6-4, 6-3

Sunday

Tomas Berdych (CZE) bt Carlos Berlocq (ARG) 6-3, 6-3, 6-4

Juan Monaco (ARG) v Radek Stepanek (CZE)

Gijon, Spain

Spain 3 USA 1

Friday

David Ferrer (ESP) bt Sam Querrey (USA) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4

Nicolas Almagro (ESP) bt John Isner (USA) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5

Saturday

Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA) bt Marcel Granollers/Marc Lopez (ESP) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 7-5

Sunday

David Ferrer (ESP) bt John Isner (USA) 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2

Nicolas Almagro (ESP) v Sam Querrey (USA) - not played

World Group playoffs

Amsterdam

Friday

Netherlands 2 Switzerland 3

Roger Federer (SUI) bt Thiemo de Bakker 6-3, 6-4, 6-4

Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) bt Robin Haase (NED) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4)

Saturday

Robin Haase/Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) bt Stanislas Wawrinka/Roger Federer (SUI) 6-4, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3

Sunday

Roger Federer (SUI) bt Robin Haase (NED) 6-1, 6-4, 6-4

Thiemo de Bakker (NED) bt Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) 6-2, 7-6 (7/5)

Hamburg

Germany 3 Australia 2

Friday

Bernard Tomic (AUS) bt Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (GER) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4)

Florian Mayer (GER) bt Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) 7-5, 6-3, 6-2

Saturday

Lleyton Hewitt/Chris Guccione (AUS) bt Philipp Petzschner/Benjamin Becker (GER) 6-3, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7/4)

Philipp Petzschner/Benjamin Becker (GER) v Lleyton Hewitt/Chris Guccione (AUS)

Sunday

Florian Mayer (GER) bt Bernard Tomic (AUS) 6-4, 6-2, 6-3

Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (GER) bt Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) 6-4, 6-1, 6-4

Brussels

Belgium 5 Sweden 0

Friday

Steve Darcis (BEL) bt Michael Ryderstedt (SWE) 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), 6-0

David Goffin (BEL) bt Andreas Vinciguerra (SWE) 6-4, 6-3, 7-5

Saturday

Ruben Bemelmans/Olivier Rochus (BEL) bt Michael Ryderstedt/Johan Brunstrom (SWE) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2

Sunday

David Goffin (BEL) bt Markus Eriksson (SWE) 6-3, 6-4

Steve Darcis (BEL) bt Andreas Vinciguerra (SWE) 6-4, 6-2

Montreal

Canada 4 South Africa 1

Friday

Vasek Pospisil (CAN) bt Izak Van Der Merwe (RSA) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4

Milos Raonic (CAN) bt Nikala Scholtz (RSA) 7-5, 6-4, 7-5

Saturday

Raven Klaasen/Izak Van Der Merwe (RSA) bt Daniel Nestor/Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/5)

Sunday

Milos Raonic, Canada, def. Izak van der Merwe, South Africa, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.

Frank Dancevic (CAN) def. Nikala Scholtz (RSA) 6-2, 6-2.

Almaty, Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan 3 Uzbekistan 1

Friday

Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) bt Farrukh Dustov (UZB) 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5)

Denis Istomin (UZB) bt Evgeny Korolev (KAZ) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 0-6, 6-3

Saturday

Andrey Golubev/Yury Schukin (KAZ) bt Denis Istomin/Farrukh Dustov (UZB) 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, 6-4

Sunday

Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) bt Denis Istomin (UZB) 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2

Evgeny Korolev (KAZ) v Farrukh Dustov (UZB)

Sao Jose do Rio Preto, Brazil

Brazil 3 Russia 0

Friday

Rogerio Dutra (BRA) bt Igor Adreev (RUS) 6-2, 6-1 - retired

Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) bt Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7/4)

Saturday

Bruno Soares/Marcelo Melo (BRA) bt Alex Bogomolov/Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (9/7)

Sunday (1800 GMT)

Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) v Igor Adreev (RUS)

Rogerio Dutra (BRA) v Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS)

Naples, Italy

Italy 4 Chile 1

Friday

Andreas Seppi (ITA) bt Guillermo Hormazabal (CHI) 7-5, 6-1, 6-2

Saturday

Fabio Fognini (ITA) bt Paul Capdeville (CHI) 2-6, 6-2, 6-7 (6/8), 6-1, 6-2

Paul Capdeville/Jorge Aguilar (CHI) bt Simone Bolelli/Daniele Bracciali (ITA) 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-2

Sunday

Andreas Seppi (ITA) bt Paul Capdeville (CHI) 6-3, 6-1, 6-3

Simone Bolelli (ITA) bt Christian Garin (CHI) 6-4, 6-3

Tokyo

Friday

Japan 2 Israel 3

Go Soeda (JPN) bt Dudi Sela (ISR) 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4

Amir Weintraub (ISR) bt Tatsuma Ito (JPN) 6-3, 6-2, 6-4

Saturday

Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram (ISR) bt Tatsuma Ito/Yuichi Sugita (JPN) 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1

Sunday

Kei Nishikori (JPN) bt Dudi Sela (ISR) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5

Amir Weintraub (ISR) bt Go Soeda (JPN) 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-3