Spain's Nicolas Almagro and David Ferrer demolished Austria on the opening day of their Davis Cup quarterfinal Friday as the five-time champion moved to the verge of the last four. Almagro took just under two hours to see off Jurgen Melzer 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 in Castellon before world No. 5 David Ferrer, Spain's top player in the absence of Rafael Nadal, needed just 85 minutes to crush Andreas Haider-Maurer 6-1, 6-3, 6-1. Ferrer eased past world No. 139 Haider-Maurer, who hadn't played a match since a Challenger tournament in February. Doubles team Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez can wrap up victory for the defending champion ahead of time if they can see off Oliver Marach and Alexander Peya Saturday. Victory in the tie would also extend Spain's winning record at home to 23 matches, a run stretching back to 1999 when it lost to Brazil. That defeat was also Spain's last on a clay court in the competition. The winner of the quarterfinal will face either France or the United States in the semifinals. They were locked at 1-1 in Monte Carlo after France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga saw off teenager Ryan Harrison 7-5, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, before John Isner pulled the 32-time champion level with a 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 win over Gilles Simon. Isner, the world No. 11, had shown his Davis Cup ability in the first round with a shock win over Swiss star Roger Federer which also came on clay. He followed that up by beating world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the Indian Wells semifinals last month. In Prague, 2010 champion Serbia, playing without Djokovic, slipped 1-0 down to the Czech Republic after Tomas Berdych eased past Victor Troicki 6-2, 6-1, 6-2. The second rubber will be a rematch of the deciding fifth rubber in the 2010 semifinals when Janko Tipsarevic overcame Radek Stepanek. The winners of that quarterfinal will face either Argentina or 2005 champion Croatia who were facing off in Buenos Aires. Marin Cilic gave Croatia a winning start when he beat David Nalbandian 5-7, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 in a five-hour epic, featuring 241 unforced errors. Croatia will get the opportunity to go 2-0 up when Ivo Karlovic takes on Juan Martin del Potro, the world number 10, who was reported to have been vomiting all morning.
