Ferrer clinches for Spain, semis set

Austin, Texas (dpa) - David Ferrer overcame a staunch effort from Mardy Fish on Sunday to close out a win for Spain over the US at 3-1 and clinch a spot in the
 Davis Cup semi-finals, where they join Serbia, France and Argentina.
The 2007 and 2008 champions, who were without Rafael Nadal on the quick indoor court against the US, will host the French in the last four, while Argentina will travel to face holders Serbia, with both ties in September.
The number six player in the world, Ferrer put in another steely performance to win 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 7-6 (7-5) and leave the tie's final contest between Andy Roddick and Feliciano Lopez cancelled.
On Friday, Lopez won a remarkable four-hour, five-set match against Fish before Ferrer swept aside hometown boy Roddick in straight sets.
Bob and Mike Bryan kept home hopes alive in doubles Saturday against Fernando Verdasco and Marcel Granollers, but the 16,000 fans baying for the chance to see Roddick were disappointed as the 29-year-old Ferrer kept his nerve to overcome an in-form Fish.
Fish, currently ranked a career-best eighth, went ahead a break at 4-3 in the first set, but fell on his serve at 5-4 and was then broken for the second consecutive game to hand the set to Ferrer.
In the second, Fish failed to take advantage of seven break points across three consecutive Ferrer service games, although the big American did save five set points on his serve at 4-5 before falling in the tiebreaker.
In consecutive games midway through the third set, Ferrer and Fish each came back from 0-40 to save serve, but the Spaniard could not stop Fish, on set point, from winning his second break point in 16 chances to that stage.
Ferrer and Fish traded breaks until two sloppy forehands by the American at 4-4 gifted a service break to Ferrer, but he was unable to serve out the match and double faulted to bring it back even.
In the tiebreak, Fish served on match point and was overpowered into spraying a forehand wide.
"This was very special moment for me," said Ferrer after the match.
"It was an unbelievable and tough match, and I am happy to have fought through that because this was very difficult."
Spanish captain Albert Costa admitted the Spanish walked through on a knife's edge to their first-ever Davis Cup win in the United States.
"All of the matches were very close. Sometimes it goes good and sometimes bad. But my players deserve the victory. They are superstars. Tonight was historic," he said.
Ferrer, who beat two top 10 players in three days, moves to 4-4 all time against Fish, and he is likely to play a part in Spain's quest for revenge against France, who shocked them 5-0 in last year's quarter-finals en route to a loss against the Serbs in the final.
The French finished off a tie they had clinched on Saturday, ending 4-1 over Germany in Stuttgart.
Philipp Petzschner got a consolation point for the home side at the Weissenhof club as he beat Michael Llodra 6-3, 6-4. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won the second dead rubber against Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5) just as thunder sounded in the background.
Janko Tipsarevic put holders Serbia into a second consecutive semi-final also Sunday, wrapping up the weekend victory over Sweden by a 4-1 score.
Tipsarevic, substituting for injured Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, secured the Serbs advancement with a defeat of Davis debutant Michael Ryderstedt 6-2, 7-5, 6-3.
Tipsarevic claimed the deciding point for Serbia for a sixth time after putting them through to the finals last year. The semi-final against Argentina will be the sixth home tie for the Serbs from the past eight.
The 27-year-old flung his used sweatbands and shirt into a crowd of screaming supporters at the indoor venue in celebration.
In the final dead rubber Swedish doubles specialist Robert Lindstedt retired against Viktor Troicki, another member of last December's Serbian team, after the two split the first two sets.
The Argentines, with Juan Del Potro needed for only one opening singles rubber and David Nalbandian missing with injury, will be playing their fifth semi-final from the past seven editions after beating Kazakhstan 5-0.