David Ferrer crushed Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 to fire depleted champion Spain into the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup Sunday and set up a clash away to nine-time winners France. Novak Djokovic booked Serbia's place in the last eight at the expense of the United States, the world No. 2 being pushed all the way by John Isner before winning 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 in the fourth singles rubber in Belgrade. Mikhail Youzhny sent Russia through when he thrashed India's Somdev Devvarman 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 in Moscow. Russia will face Argentina in July's quarters, after David Nalbandian won the final rubber against Sweden's Andreas Vinciguerra 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in Stockholm. Nalbandian was a late addition to the team, and his all-court game was too much for the 232nd-ranked Vinciguerra. Serbia faces neighbors Croatia, the first meeting between the two countries since it became independent nations following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. France, 2009 finalist Czech Republic and 2005 winner Croatia all progressed Saturday, the French defeating Germany in Toulon, Czech Republic ousting Belgium in Bree and the Croats seeing off Ecuador in Varazdin. Ferrer's victory in Spain's first-round tie in Logrono gave the champion, missing injured Rafael Nadal, Fernando Verdasco and Juan Carlos Ferrero for the start of its bid for a third consecutive title, an unbeatable 3-1 lead. Nicolas Almagro, who lost to Wawrinka in Friday's opening singles rubber, later dispatched Marco Chiudinelli 6-1, 6-3 in a shortened final rubber to seal a 4-1 success. World No. 16 Ferrer comfortably took the first set on the clay at the Plaza de Toros de la Ribera, before 19th-ranked Wawrinka stormed back to open a 4-1 lead in the second. However, the Spaniard reeled off five straight games and Wawrinka lost his cool at 5-4 down, smashing his racket repeatedly on the ground and incurring a point penalty. The Swiss, leading his side in the absence of world No. 1 Roger Federer, fell to pieces in the third set in the face of some brilliant play from Ferrer that delighted the boisterous red and yellow-clad Spanish fans. It was Spain's 19th straight win in Davis Cup home ties stretching back to a defeat by Brazil in 1999. “Playing here in front of your fans is the greatest thing for a tennis player,” Ferrer said in a television interview. Russia extended its winning streak at home to 17 ties and will play Argentina at home. The tie between Chile and Israel in Coquimbo was rescheduled to start Saturday because of the disruption caused by last weekend's earthquake, with a quarterfinal against the Czechs in July the prize. Chile was 2-1 ahead after Sunday's doubles. Monterrey final In Mexico, third-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia defeated Anastasia Sevastova of Latvia 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 Sunday to reach the final of the Monterrey Open. The match was washed out Saturday by heavy rain. Pavlyuchenkova will face second-seeded Daniela Hantuchova in the final later Sunday. Hantuchova came from a set down to defeat fellow Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 Saturday.
