The last spot in the Davis Cup championship match belongs to Spain; the passionate men in red came through a thrilling doubles match to defeat Germany 2-1 at the Super Tennis Arena in Bologna on Saturday.
The six-time titlists led by David Ferrer will join two-time defending champions Italy in Sunday’s final, bidding to become the first nation to win three consecutive Davis Cup titles in 53 years, their first on home soil.
Italy and Spain will meet each other at the event for the first time since 2006, their 14th encounter in the team competition overall.
Spanish duo Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martinez stayed in perfect synchrony to stun German pair Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win in one hour and 45 minutes.
A dominant showing saw the duo open a 4-0 advantage in the first set with a brilliant performance on the return, making the difference on their way to closing out 6-2 and taking the early lead.
As expected, the experienced Krawietz-Puetz pair came back firing to recover lost ground in the second set.
They found an extra gear, courtesy of a statement performance on serve, converting their lone break point in the match, and won 92 percent of their first serves to seal it 6-3, even the decider at one set apiece.
However, the unrelenting Spaniards dealt their final card with authority, clinching a pivotal break in the fourth game, holding their nerve when the German players attempted a late challenge.
Serving for the match, they fended off a break point before firing an ace to bring up match point and see out victory in style, hitting 31 winners in the process.
Earlier, world No. 89 Pablo Carreno Busta dug deep to hand his country a 1-0 lead in the tie, prevailing over Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 7-6(6) in one hour and 44 minutes.
Struff found his rhythm in the second set, forcing a dramatic tiebreak he let slip when holding a 6-1 advantage.
From there, Carreno Busta put in motion a breathtaking recovery, rallying to save five consecutive set points to step up to the challenge, emerging victorious 6-4.
At the hands of world No. 3 Alexander Zverev, Germany stayed alive in the semifinal tie, which eventually led to the doubles deciding contest.
Zverev rallied to outlast in-form Jaume Munar 7-6(2), 7-6(5) in two hours, a high-quality, critical battle in which the former showcased his caliber to shut down his adversary with grit and determination.
Spain has never played Italy in a Davis Cup final before.
On Friday, the men led by captain Filippo Volandri took a thriller 2-0 tie win over Belgium, with Matteo Berrettini and Flavio Cobolli shining bright in Bologna.
“We are not trying to win the third Davis Cup in a row. We try to win the Davis Cup for 2025,” asserted Volandri.
“We just have to try to prepare for the Finals in the best way we can. We are not looking for the third one, we are looking for the one of 2025.”