GIJON, Spain - Top-ranked United States pair Bob and Mike Bryan kept US hopes of upsetting holder Spain alive when they fought off a brave challenge from Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez to win their Davis Cup semifinal doubles 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 Saturday. Spain had put itself within a point of a fourth final in five years when David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro beat Sam Querrey and John Isner in Friday's singles but Granollers and Lopez were unable to close out the tie against the hugely experienced twins. The Spanish pair were hampered by a calf injury to Granollers that required heavy strapping early in the second set. Clearly hindered in his movement on the clay in Gijon, Granollers managed to save the Bryans' first match point with a fine drop volley but Lopez double faulted on the next, prompting the trademark chest-bump victory celebration from the US pair. “We stayed the course the whole way and three hours 40 minutes was maybe one of the longest Davis Cup matches we ever played,” Bob Bryan said in an interview with Spanish TV. Ferrer can put Spain 3-1 ahead and clinch a place in November's final with a win against Isner in Sunday's opening reverse singles, with Almagro due to play Querrey after. In the other semifinal, Tomas Berdych recovered from two sets to one down, and 1-4 behind in the fourth set, to stun Juan Monaco 6-1, 4-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 and pull the Czech Republic level 1-1 with Argentina. With Argentine football legend Diego Maradona and former tennis glamor girl Gabriela Sabatini amongst the raucous 13,00-crowd inside Parque Roca, Berdych dug deep to claim a famous win for the Czechs. Earlier, Juan Martin del Potro got Argentina off to a winning start with victory in straight sets against Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Federer, Wawrinka beaten Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka slumped to a 6-4, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 defeat to Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer Saturday as the Netherlands stayed alive in their Davis Cup World Cup play-off with Switzerland. Federer and Wawrinka, who were doubles gold medallists at the 2008 Olympic Games, had both won their singles Friday to give the Swiss a 2-0 lead. — Agencies
