Spain beat Israel to reach Davis Cup final

Murcia: Tommy Robredo and Feliciano Lopez upset Israeli doubles specialists Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram 7-6 6-7 6-4 6-2 on Saturday to put champions Spain through to their fifth Davis Cup final in 10 years.

Juan Carlos Ferrero and David Ferrer had opened a 2-0 lead for the home side with crushing victories in Friday`s singles before Robredo and Lopez gave Spain an unassailable 3-0 advantage in the best-of-five tie on the clay in Murcia. Spain, winners in 2000, 2004 and 2008, will play Czech Republic at home in December`s final after making light of the absence of injured world number two Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco. Czechs Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych, who both won in Friday`s singles in Porec, paired up on Saturday to beat Marin Cilic and Lovro Zovko and send the visitors through against Croatia."The Czechs are very dangerous and have beaten some very good teams already this year," Spain captain Albert Costa said at a news conference. "Stepanek and Berdych have both been in the top ten and can adapt easily to any surface." Israel had stunned 2006 champions Russia to progress to the last four for the first time and were relying on Erlich and Ram, 2008 Australian Open doubles winners, to keep alive their hopes of an unlikely victory. But Spain had won their previous 16 home ties and the last 18 on their favoured clay and were roared on by the home support, complete with brass band, at the packed 12,000-seater arena. "There`s no doubt that when they play at home nobody can beat them," said Ram. "This was maybe a once in a lifetime experience for us but hopefully next time we can play them in Israel with our fans behind us and have another go." Crucial Break After trading tie-breaks with the Israeli pair, Robredo and Lopez stepped up a gear to win the third set and grabbed a crucial break on the Erlich serve in the third game of the fourth. The Israeli suffered a season-ending injury to his right elbow in 2008 and play was interrupted so he could have treatment on what looked like a recurrence of the problem. Spain then broke again for 4-1 and sealed victory on their first match point when Robredo put away an angled volley. "I am thrilled to bits that they played so well," Costa said. "More and more in Spain, we have players who can play both singles and doubles and win on any surface." Play was briefly halted in the second set tie-break when a ball girl appeared to faint. She was helped to the side of the court and treated in front of a concerned looking Nadal in the Spanish team box before being carried off. The venue for the final will be announced within the next two weeks, with the surface likely to be clay. Bureau Report