Croatia, Slovakia inch towards first final

Croatia and Slovakia inched towards their first Davis Cup final yesterday, both nations taking a 2-1 lead in their semis with doubles wins.

Croatia's Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic sparked scenes of crowd joy in Split by finishing off Russia's Dmitry Tursunov and Igor Andreev 6-2 4-6 7-6 3-6 6-4 while Slovakia's Karol Beck and Michal Mertinak beat Argentina's David Nalbandian and Mariano Puerta 7-6 7-5 7-6 in a tense affair in Bratislava.

Ancic and Ljubicic endured three hours and 37 minutes of see-saw drama in the cacophonous Gripe Sports Hall before triumphing and the hosts now need to win just one of today's two reverse singles to secure a place in December's final.

"We didn't play a great match, I'm just glad it's over," a relieved Ljubicic said. "We had chances to win it in three or four sets, but in the fifth set we were the better team.

"I'm tired, but I'll be okay for tomorrow ... with this crowd, you don't feel tired."

Ancic, who lost the tie's opening match against Nikolay Davydenko on Friday, will play Youzhny in a potential fifth rubber decider today, although Ljubicic can secure victory by beating Davydenko.

The unheralded Slovak doubles team of Karol Beck and Michal Mertinak were always in control against the Argentine combination and thoroughly deserved their victory.

In Italy, Daniele Bracciali and Giorgio Galimberti won their third Davis Cup doubles rubber of the year to take the Italians to the brink of an upset win over Spain in their play-off.

The pair survived a stirring fightback from Feliciano Lopez and Rafael Nadal to record a momentous 4-6 6-4 6-2 4-6 9-7 victory to lay the foundation for a return to the World Group after a five-year absence.

Other play-off results: Switzerland bt Britain 3-0; US lead Belgium 2-1; Germany lead Czech Rep. 2-1; Austria lead Ecuador 2-1.