Davis Cup Finals: Germany and Spain reach the Davis Cup semi-finals

Germany completed a remarkable comeback to beat Argentina in a thrilling doubles decider and set up a meeting with Spain in the Davis Cup semi-finals.

Kevin Krawietz and Tim Boetz saved three match points in the final set tiebreak to beat Horacio Zeballos and Andres Molteni 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (12-10) in a grueling match that lasted 2 hours and 31 minutes.

Argentina scored the first point when Thomas Echeverri, ranked 60th in the world, hit 23 aces to beat Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6 (7-3) and 7-6 (9-7) in a high-quality confrontation.

But world number three Alexander Zverev launched Germany’s recovery by defeating world number 21 Francisco Cerundolo 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) to impose the decisive doubles.

Zverev, the only player among the top ten to participate in the Davis Cup this week, was not at his best, but a great performance in the tie-break kept Germany’s hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals for the second time in a row alive.

Those hopes were about to fade when Zeballos and Molteni dominated the first set of the doubles event.

But Krawietz and Peutz, who have three Grand Slam doubles titles between them, took the second set before a draw in the deciding set led to a tiebreak.

The German team wasted four chances to settle the match, including three in a row, in a stunning tiebreaker, before snatching victory with the fifth point.

“It’s unbelievable. There’s not a lot of games you play in your career like that,” Puetz said. “It seems better to win in the end, but what a great match and a great draw in the Davis Cup.”

Germany, a three-time world champion, has not reached the final of the tournament since winning the title in 1993.

Earlier on Thursday, Spain made up for the absence of Carlos Alcaraz to come from behind and defeat the Czech Republic 2-1, moving another step closer to its first title in six years.

Spain will meet Germany in Bologna on Saturday, while two-time defending champion Italy will play Belgium in the first semi-final on Friday.