Russia reach Davis Cup semifinals

MOSCOW, Russia -- Russia secured a place in the Davis Cup semifinals for the fourth consecutive year Sunday after Czech Tomas Berdych retired hurt in the decisive fifth set against Nikolay Davydenko.

The win gave Russia an insurmountable 3-1 lead against the Czech Republic before the last singles match in the best-of-five quarterfinal -- and a date with Argentina, who beat Sweden in Buenos Aires.

Berdych was up 2-1 in the fifth set and facing Davydenko's serve when he fell as he reached for a forehand cross, appearing to twist his right ankle.

"I was feeling really great today," said Berdych. "I had really good confidence but this is just sport. You can't do anything else."

Davydenko was sympathetic. "It's such a shame the match finished like that," he said.

It was the second straight time Russia advanced after an opponent retired with an injury in the decisive fifth set. Serbia's Novak Djokovic pulled out against Davydenko in the first round in February.

The victory extended Russia's unbeaten streak at home to 16 series since 1995, when Pete Sampras won all three of his matches to lead the United States to victory.

Russia won the Davis Cup in 2002 and 2006 and was runner-up to the United States last year.

The Czech team won its only title in 1980 and was playing in its first quarterfinal since 2002.

Spain became the first country to qualify for the semifinals but Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez were made to battle hard for a 6-7 7-6 6-4 2-6 12-10 win over Philipp Kohlschreiber and Philipp Petzschner.

The clinching victory at the indoor arena in Bremen on Saturday took four hours and 45 minutes.

Spain will play either the U.S. or France in the other semifinal after France hit back to win the doubles on Saturday after losing both opening day singles.

The French pair of Michael Llodra and Arnaud Clement rallied past the top-ranked Bob and Mike Bryan 6-7 7-5 6-3 6-4 to cut the Americans' lead to 2-1 in the best-of-five competition.

In Buenos Aires David Nalbandian battled to a five-set victory over Robin Soderling to give Argentina a winning 3-1 lead against Sweden and earn a home semifinal against Russia.

Nalbandian needed 4 hours and 15 minutes to beat Soderling 6-4 1-6 4-6 6-4 9-7 in the first reverse singles and give Argentina their 12th straight Davis Cup victory at home since 1998 on their favorite clay surface.

Russia beat Argentina to win the Davis Cup in 2006.

In a windy, error-prone match, Nalbandian broke serve in the first game and went up 2-0. Then both players lapsed into unforced errors before Nalbandian used better shot placement to take the set before 10,000 mostly Argentine fans at Parque Roca stadium.

Soderling then got two successive breaks in the second and converted his fourth set point.

Both players struggled with their serve as the wind picked up in the third, with Soderling getting two breaks to Nalbandian's one.

Nalbandian was also broken in the first game of the fourth set but recovered to break back in the fourth and eighth games. Both players kept making errors and traded breaks for the last three games, letting Nalbandian close out the set.

Soderling got the early advantage in the decider, getting a break in the third game after Nalbandian protested loudly over a line call.

But the Argentine immediately broke back for 2-2, and then forced Soderling to save three match points to hold service to 5-5.

Nalbandian then got the final break in the 16th game to seal the win. E-mail to a friend