Both Croatia and Slovakia reached the final of the Davis Cup for the first time in their short histories on Sunday by scoring shock victories over powerful opposition in the men's international tennis event.
Ivan Ljubicic provided the heroics for Croatia who finished off Russia in Split while Dominik Hrbaty was the toast of Bratislava after downing Guillermo Coria to end Argentina's hopes.
Slovakia will host December's final, for which Croatia's former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic will come out of retirement. Ivanisevic is to take on compatriot Sasa Tuksar in a one-off match in November to decide the squad's fourth member.
Ljubicic sparked wild celebrations in Split's packed Gripe Sports Hall by pummelling Russia's Nikolay Davydenko 6-3,7-6,6-4.
"I always thought my Olympic bronze medal was the highlight of my career," said the shaven-headed player who achieved that feat last year in the doubles with Mario Ancic in Athens. "But this is even better."
Croatia captain Niki Pilic can look forward to a fourth final, after previously steering Germany to three Davis Cup crowns.
WORLD CLASS
"Ljubicic has shown this weekend that he is world class," said Pilic, after dancing around court with Ivanisevic and the rest of the team.
In Bratislava,Hrbaty also put in a world-class performance to snuff out Coria's and Argentina's chances 7-6,6-2, 6-3 and spark similar crowd scenes.
"It was the best atmosphere I've ever played in," smiled Hrbaty on court after his win. "All the people were cheering for me, and I didn't want to disappoint them.
"I played really well right up to the last point, and I'm really happy for my team mates and all the people... I'll always remember the atmosphere.
"It's the biggest moment in the history of Slovak men's tennis... unbelievable."
Last year's champions Spain and the United States -- winners of a record 31 Davis Cup titles -- also had something to cheer on Sunday when they retained their elite 16-nation World Group status for next season.
Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero swept aside Daniele Bracciali 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 to secure a 3-2 win and condemn Italy to a sixth season outside the top flight.
CLEAN SWEEP
Ferrero's victory in the fifth rubber saved Spain from becoming only the third team in the World Group's 24-year history to be relegated the year after winning the title.
France went down in 1998 and Sweden were relegated in 2000.
"There is always pressure when you have to win the last game but I was confident and felt in control from the start. It was vital for us to get the win in this play-off and thankfully we did it," said Ferrero.
Andy Roddick came to the United States' rescue, winning a five-set match on clay for only the second time in his career to beat Olivier Rochus 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 and give the visitors an unbeatable 3-1 lead over Belgium.
For Belgium, it was a third consecutive defeat in the play-offs and left a sour taste with Rochus, who felt he lost his chance to upset Roddick due to a disputed line call which went Roddick's way at break point to give the U.S. a 4-2 lead in the fifth set.
"You fight for four hours, 20 minutes," Rochus said. "I already lost two tiebreak. I never played a match that was so close...to go out like this is tough. What can you do?" Rochus said.
Roddick was subdued. "It's disappointing that controversy is going to surround a match of that level," he said.
U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe said: "Let it be said that it's not our job to make the calls. I understand their being upset. But for them to be upset with us is pretty surprising. It's really not right that it ended the way it did with controversy."
Switzerland finished off a sorry Britain 5-0 in Geneva with two wins in dead rubbers to remain in the World Group. George Bastl took just 53 minutes to dismantle David Sherwood's game 6-3, 6-0 and Stanislas Wawrinka beat Alan Mackin 7-5, 7-6.
The Swiss clean sweep marked Britain's heaviest defeat since they lost 5-0 to the Slovak Republic in April 1995.
Germany beat the Czech Republic 3-2 in Liberec to take their place in the World Group. The Czechs will be absent from the World Group next year for the first time since its inception in 1981.
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