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By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, April 8, 2018

 
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David Ferrer fought off Philipp Kohlschreiber, 7-6 (1), 3-6, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-5, to clinch Spain's dramatic 3-2 victory over Germany in a pulsating Davis Cup quarterfinal.

Photo credit: @Spain Tenis

A marathon match escalated into a frenetic fifth set with the Davis Cup semifinals on the line.

David Ferrer, the unrelenting running man, churned through one final drive to carry Spain across the finish line.

Watch: Best Point of Davis Cup Weekend

The 36-year-old Ferrer fired a backhand pass on match point fighting off a valiant Philipp Kohlschreiber, 7-6 (1), 3-6, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-5, to clinch Spain's dramatic 3-2 victory over Germany in a pulsating Davis Cup quarterfinal at the Plaza de Toros de Valencia.



The victory vaults Spain into the September 14-16th Davis Cup semifinals at defending champion France, which defeated Italy earlier today.

Spain has won six of eight meetings with France, including a 4-1 victory on the red clay of Cordoba in the 2011 semifinals.

Veterans Ferrer and Kohlschreiber are a combined 70 years old, have played a total of 1,800 professional matches between them and today they collaborated on a four hour, 51 minute classic.

Ferrer twice fought back from a break down in the third set, broke Kohlschreiber in the 11th game of the final set and served it out creating a mass red-and-gold celebration in his hometown.



"For me, it's a dream I am playing here in Valencia so I have the support of all my people all my team," Ferrer told Davis Cup.com afterward. "We're in the semifinals one of the best days of my tennis career for sure.

"I tried to fight every point. I tried to be focused and don't think so much because in some moments Philipp was better for me.

A pressure-packed match played amid a devious wind was everything Davis Cup should be—fierce warriors, a raucous crowd and immense pressure—and could well be the final Davis Cup World Group quarterfinal played under the home-and-away format if proposed changes that would transform Davis Cup into a World Group style tournament at a neutral site take effect. 

Earlier, a fired-up world No. 1 Rafael Nadal annihilated Alexander Zverev, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4, leveling the quarterfinal at 2-2.



It was Nadal's record-extending 24th consecutive Davis Cup victory, singles and doubles combined, and set the stage for an epic duel between veterans with a trip to the semifinals on the line.

This was a match of quality shotmaking and valor from veterans.

Serving at 5-all, Ferrer fought off two break points dodging danger as captain Sergi Bruguera barked out an encouraging "Vamos! Vamos! Vamos!"

Staring down triple set-point, Kohlschreiber made a committed stand, slashing a pair of backhands down the line to force the tie break at the one-hour mark.

Dancing around his backhand, Ferrer spun an inside-out forehand taking the mini break and a 2-0 lead.

Ripping a forehand return right back at Kohlschreiber, Ferrer watched as the ball took a bad bounce off the clay giving him five set points.

Lifting a creative rainbow lob, Ferrer closed the 65-minute opening set skipping across the clay in exuberance.

Undeterred, Kohlschreiber continued to pound away at the Spaniard's weaker backhand wing, eliciting a pair of errors to break for a 4-2 second-set lead. The German double-faulted back the break in the seventh game.

Ferrer tried playing higher over the net, but Kohlschreiber took the topspin on the rise, streaked forehand and stuck a backhand volley off the sideline for the third straight break and 5-3 lead.

Kohlschreiber cranked an ace down the T snatching the 41-minute second set with his third ace of the set. The German served with more authority winning 70 percent of his first-serve points compared to 50 percent for Ferrer in the second set.

Creating obscure angles crosscourt with his penetrating one-handed backhand, Kohlschreiber pressured Ferrer with some driving returns breaking for 5-4 as the German team bench, including Hall of Famer Boris Becker, erupted.

Serving for a two-sets to one lead, Kohlschreiber dug out of a love-30 hole only to tighten up with successive forehand errors as Ferrer broke back prompting a roar from the crowd and joyous embrace from teammates Nadal and Marc Lopez.

In a topsy-turvy tie break, Kohlschreiber bounced his racquet in disgust following a poor drop shot that came after he was victimized by an incorrect line call.

That prompted jeers from Spanish fans, but Kohlschreiber quieted the crowd briefly with a brilliant drop volley for 4-3.

Three straight errors from the German, including two from his trusty one-handeded backhand, gave Ferrer two set points. Ferrer flagged a backhand off the top of the tape, the ball popped in the air and plopped over on the German's side as the crowd erupted and Nadal roared.



In an extremely tight 72-minute set, Ferrer played cleaner tennis at critical stages committing 16 unforced errors—half of the German's total in building a two-sets to one lead.

A pulsating fourth-set popped with some tremendous all-court exchanges including this outrageous cat-and-mouse point that spilled all over the court with Kohlschreiber serving at 2-all.



A determined Kohlschreiber broke on a net-cord shot to snatch the fourth set.
The court was watered down before the final set of the quarterfinal. Ferrer came out firing.

The longest point of the match showed Ferrer at his feisty best. The 36-year-old Spaniard dug in and refused to miss eventually clawing a backhand miss from Kohlschreiber breaking to open the decider.

Spanish fans serenaded him with a chant of "David! David!" and Nadal leaped from his seat and threw a clenched fist as Ferrer backed up the break.

Kolschreiber wasn't done. The German broke back for 3-all then withstood severe pressure holding in the seventh game with a shot.

Sheer desire after four hours and 45 minutes of play helped Ferrer scrape out the critical play.



On defense through much of break point, a resilient Ferrer sprinted sideline-to-sideling spitting back replies until Kohlschreiber cracked tapping a backhand volley into net.

Serving for the semifinal at 6-5, Ferrer fired that backhand pass with clarity then collapsed to the red clay sending hometown fans into a frenzy and Spain into the semifinals for the first time in six years.

 

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