Germany, Sweden and the United States qualified for the Davis Cup semifinals by winning doubles matches on Saturday, and Russia moved closer to a spot in the last four after taking a 2-1 lead over France.
Defending champions Russia again were stretched to five sets as Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko held on to beat Sebastien Grosjean and Michael Llodra 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on clay in Moscow.
The best-of-five series will be decided on Sunday in the reverse singles matches when Davydenko faces Richard Gasquet and Mikhail Youzhny takes on Paul-Henri Mathieu.
The Germans, Swedes and Americans all took insurmountable 3-0 leads on Saturday. Germany beat hosts Belgium on clay in Ostend, Sweden eliminated visiting Argentina on carpet in Goteborg, and the US won on indoor hard courts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Russia broke the French pair in the eighth game of the fifth set when Grosjean sent a forehand return wide. Andreev then served out the match at love.
”We haven’t played together for almost a year,” Davydenko said. ”We were lucky to win in five sets.”
On Friday, an ailing Youzhny wasted four match points in the third set before beating Gasquet 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (8), 5-7, 8-6.
Mathieu had beaten Davydenko 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 7-5 earlier.
The Russians haven’t loss to France since 1983, and beat them in the 2002 final for their first Davis Cup title. They are hoping to become the first defending champions to reach the semifinals since 2001 champions France reached the last four the following year.
Alexander Waske and Michael Kohlmann beat Olivier and Christophe Rochus 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 to lead Germany to their first Davis Cup semifinal appearance in a dozen years. ”There will be a party for sure now,” Waske said.
The 33-year-old Kohlmann and the 32-year-old Waske stayed cool despite losing the first set, and the Belgian brothers — with Olivier Rochus still slowed by an ankle injury — could not keep up the pace. ”They were simply better,” Olivier Rochus said.
On Friday, Haas rallied to beat an injured Kristof Vliegen 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 at the Sleuyter Arena, and Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Olivier Rochus 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (4).
Germany will face either Russia or France in the semifinals in September.
The top-ranked doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan beat Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez 7-5, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) to give the 31-time champions Americans a spot in the semifinals against Sweden.
The Bryan brothers had a match point at 5-4 in the fourth set, but had to wait until the tiebreaker to clinch the series.
Spain played without second-ranked Rafael Nadal, who withdrew with an injury.
Jonas Bjorkman and Thomas Johansson gave Sweden its win, beating Guillermo Canas and David Nalbandian 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-3. Bjorkman, who is 35 but still one of the world’s best doubles players, was never broken during the match.
”I served really bad for the last four weeks,” Bjorkman said. ”But I’ve really felt confident with my serve this week during training and I’m happy I served so well in the match.”
Both teams made late changes for the match, with Johansson playing instead of rookie Robert Lindstedt and Canas, who beat top-ranked Roger Federer in consecutive ATP tournaments last month, replacing Sebastian Prieto.
On Friday, Johansson beat Nalbandian 6-7 (3), 7-6 (2), 6-2, 7-6 (0), and Robin Soderling defeated Juan Martin del Potro 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-4. — Sapa-AP