LONDON, Sept 25: Croatia and Slovakia scored historic Davis Cup victories over powerful opposition on Sunday, both reaching the final of the men’s international tennis event for the first time. Ivan Ljubicic provided the heroics for Croatia who finished off Russia in Split while Dominik Hrbaty was the toast of Bratislava after downing Guillermo Coria to end Argentina’s hopes.

Slovakia will host December’s final for which Croatia’s former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic may come out of retirement.

Ljubicic sparked wild celebrations in Split’s packed Gripe Sports Hall by pummelling Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 7-6, 6-4.

Croatia captain Niki Pilic can now look forward to a fourth final against Slovakia, after steering Germany to three Davis Cup crowns.

In Bratislava Hrbaty also put in a world-class performance to snuff out Coria’s chances 7-6, 6-2, 6-3 and spark similar crowd scenes.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s faint hopes of making the coveted World Group were dashed abruptly on Saturday when Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu secured Chile’s place with a clinical 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 victory over Aisam Qureshi and Aqeel Khan in Santiago.

Paul Capdeville made it 4-0 on Sunday when he outclassed Shahzad Khan 6-0, 6-1 in the first of reverse singles mathes.

Last year’s champions Spain and the United States – winners of a record 31 Davis Cup titles — also had something to cheer on Sunday when they retained their elite 16-nation World Group status for next season.

Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero swept aside Daniele Bracciali 6-3 6-0 6-3 to secure a 3-2 win and condemn Italy to a sixth season outside the top flight.

Ferrero’s victory in the fifth rubber saved Spain from becoming only the third team in the World Group’s 24-year history to be relegated the year after winning the title.

France went down in 1998 and Sweden, winners in 1999, were relegated in 2000.

Andy Roddick came to the United States’ rescue, winning a five-set match on clay for only the second time in his career to beat Olivier Rochus 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 and give the visitors an unbeatable 3-1 lead over Belgium.

Roddick’s win ended a three-match losing streak in five-setters on clay.

Switzerland finished off a sorry Britain 5-0 in Geneva with two wins in dead rubbers. George Bastl took just 53 minutes to dismantle David Sherwood’s game 6-3, 6-0 and Stanislas Wawrinka beat Alan Mackin 7-5, 7-6.

The Swiss clean sweep marked Britain’s heaviest defeat since they lost 5-0 to the Slovak Republic in April 1995.

Collated World Group playoff results:

In Portschach: Austria beat Ecuador 4-1

Stefan Koubek (Austria) Carlos Avellan (Ecuador) 6-3, 6-2; Juergen Melzer (Austria) beat Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador) 7-5, 6-4, 7-5; Julian Knowle/Juergen Meltzer (Austria) beat Nicolas and Giovanni Lapentti (Ecuador) 2-6, 6-4, 6-0, 6-3; Juergen Melzer (Austria) beat Giovanni Lapentti (Ecuador) 6-1, 6-0, 6-2; Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador) beat Stefan Koubek (Austria) 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.

In Liberec: Czech Republic 2 Germany 2

Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5; Tommy Haas/Alexander Waske (Germany) beat Frantisek Cermak/Leos Friedl (Czech Republic) 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4; Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat Tommy Haas (Germany) 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (11-9), 6-3; Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) beat Tomas Zib (Czech Republic) 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-4, 6-2

In Torre del Greco: Spain beat Italy 3-2

Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) beat Daniele Bracciali 6-3, 6-0, 6-3; Rafael Nadal (Spain) beat Andreas Seppi (Italy) 6-1, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4; Daniele Bracciali/Giorgio Galimberti (Italy) beat Rafael Nadal/Feliciano Lopez 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 9-7; Andreas Seppi (Italy) beat Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) 5-7, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2; Rafael Nadal (Spain) beat Daniele Bracciali (Italy) 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.

In Delhi: India 0 Sweden 2

Jonas Bjorkman/Simon Aspelin (Sweden) lead Leander Paes/Mahesh Bhupathi (India) 6-3, 1-3; Thomas Johansson (Sweden) beat Rohan Bopanna (India) 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4); Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) beat Prakash Amritraj (India) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4

Match suspended until Monday due to bad light.

In Geneva: Switzerland beat Britain 5-0

Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) beat Alan Mackin (Britain) 7-5, 7-6 (7-5); George Bastl (Switzerland) beat David Sherwood (Britain) 6-3, 6-0; Yves Allegro/Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat Andy Murray/Greg Rusedski (Britain) 7-5, 2-6, 7-6, 6-2; Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat Alan Mackin (Britain) 6-0, 6-0, 6-2; Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) beat Andrew Murray (Britain) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

In Leuven: US beat Belgium 4-1

James Blake (US) beat Steve Darcis (Belgium) 7-5 6-1 Andy Roddick (US) beat Olivier Rochus (Belgium) 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-3; Bob and Mike Bryan (US) beat Olivier Rochus/Kristof Vliegen (Belgium) 6-3, 6-7, 6-1, 6-3; Olivier Rochus (Belgium) beat James Blake (US) 6-4, 7-5, 6-1; Andy Roddick (US) beat Christophe Rochus (Belgium) 6-1, 6-2, 6-3

In Santiago: Chile 4 Pakistan 0

Paul Capdeville (Chile) beat Shahzad Khan (Pakistan) 6-0, 6-1; Fernando Gonzalez/Nicolas Massu (Chile) beat Aisam Qureshi/Aqeel Khan (Pakistan) 6-1, 6-3, 6-0; Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) beat Aqeel Khan (Pakistan) 6-0, 6-0, 6-1; Nicolas Massu (Chile) beat Aisam Qureshi (Pakistan) 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.

In Toronto: Canada 2 Belarus 1

Daniel Nestor/Frederic Niemeyer (Canada) beat Max Mirnyi/Vladimir Voltchkov (Belarus) 7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7-6); Frank Dancevic (Canada) beat Vladimir Voltchkov (Belarus) 5-7, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3; Max Mirnyi (Belarus) beat Daniel Nestor (Canada) 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 2-1 — Nestor retired.—Reuters