Davis Cup Finals: Nadal leads Spain to semis, Serbia crash out

[caption id="attachment_284057" align="aligncenter" width="565"] Spain’s Rafael Nadal, left, and Marcel Granollers celebrate after winning their Davis Cup quarter-final match against Argentina’s Maximo Gonzalez and Leonardo Mayer during the Davis Cup doubles tennis match in Madrid, Spain on Friday. (AP/PTI)[/caption] Madrid, Nov. 23 (IANS): World No. 1 Rafael Nadal led Spain to the semi-finals while Novak Djokovic-led Serbia crashed out of the ongoing Davis Cup Finals. Nadal tallied a singles win and partnered with Marcel Granollers to a doubles victory in the country's 2-1 triumph against Argentina. Guido Pella began on Friday evening by rallying past Pablo Carreno Busta 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 6-1. But Nadal responded with a resounding 6-1, 6-2 victory against Argentine No. 1 Diego Schwartzman. Nadal then partnered with Granollers to defeat Maximo Gonzalez and Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, sending Spain to the last four. Spain, which last won the Davis Cup in 2011, will face Great Britain for a spot in the final. Former World No. 1 Andy Murray did not compete on Friday, but Great Britain defeated Germany 2-0. Earlier, Serbia were eliminated by Russian after suffering a 1-2 defeat in dramatic fashion. Russia made it to its first Davis Cup semi-final since 2008 when Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev defeated Djokovic and Viktor Troicki 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(8), saving three match points in the deciding-set tie-break. Earlier, Rublev was on fire as he dismissed Filip Krajinovic 6-1, 6-2, before Djokovic levelled the tie at 1-1 with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph against Khachanov to set the stage for the doubles rubber. Russia will next face Canada, which advanced on Thursday, for a spot in the championship.