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Spain wraps up 3-0 win over Croatia Posted: Saturday April 05, 2003 9:50 AM
VALENCIA, Spain (AP) -- Albert Costa and Alex Corretja gave Spain an unbeatable 3-0 lead Saturday in the Davis Cup World Group quarterfinal against Croatia, defeating Ivan Ljubicic and Lovro Zovko 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. Spain advances to face the winner of the Russia-Argentina tie being played at Buenos Aires. If Argentina wins, the semifinal would be played in Spain. Costa and Corretja broke Zovko's serve twice in the first set. The 22-year-old substitute for injured veteran Goran Ivanisevic looked nervous, double-faulting at one point in the midst of three set points in game 8. Spain finally converted the third one. Serving bullets, Zovko notched four aces to win game 5 of the third set, saving three break points along the way. Overall he managed to hold service only three times while losing it four times. Aside from Zovko's miscues, Ljubicic moved awkwardly, was out of position and mis-hit makeable shots at net. He looked sore, possibly from his four-set, nearly three-hour loss to Carlos Moya in singles under a hot spring sun just 12 hours earlier. In contrast, Costa and Corretja looked fresh and played like a team, covering the court fluidly, rarely falling behind, holding service and winning the key points. The 2000 Davis Cup winner against Australia when that final was played in Barcelona, Spain has a deep, talented team and high hopes of reaching this year's final. Juan Carlos Ferrero, Moya and Costa are ranked world numbers 3, 4 and 7, respectively. All are healthy and playing well on all surfaces, notably clay. The draw also favors Spain. It crushed Belgium 5-0 in the first round and faces a Croatian team weakened by the absence of former Wimbledon champion Ivanisevic. On Friday, Juan Carlos Ferrero downed 19-year-old Mario Ancic 6-4, 6-2 and 7-6 (1) and Moya defeated Ljubicic by 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
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