Ferrer wraps up Davis Cup semi against USA

On the third and final day of Spain’s Davis Cup semifinal against USA in Gijón, the possibility of an upset loomed on the horizon of what was surely destined to be another golden session in the home team’s 21^st-century domination of the event. The giant John Isner boomed down three straight aces beyond the reach of David Ferrer at the start of the first-set tiebreak, leaving the world number five from Alicante the task of coming back to secure the crucial third point for Spain.

On Friday, wins for Ferrer over Sam Querrey and Nicolás Almagro over Isner had put the host in the driver’s seat before the widely expected victory of the Bryan twins over Marcel Granollers and Marc López in the doubles rubber prevented any chance of a whitewash for the American team.

After Isner’s almost perfect tiebreak, Ferrer did fight back, proving the superiority of his game on clay and the battling spirit that has taken him close to attaining glory on all surfaces, such as his semifinal appearance in the US Open just last week. Ferrer closed out victory and his second point of the weekend 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 and puts Spain into its second straight final.

Later on Sunday it emerged that the Czech Republic would be Spain's rival for the trophy after Tomas Berdych defeated Argentina's Carlos Berlocq, who had replaced the injured Juan Martín del Potro, to make the score 3-1 overall in Buenos Aires.

The final will be a rerun of that of 2009, when Spain won 5-0 in Barcelona. This time, however, it is the Czechs' turn to host the showdown.