Madrid: David Ferrer crushed Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2 6-4 6-0 to fire depleted champions Spain into the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup yesterday and set up a clash away to nine-times winners France.
Ferrer's victory in the first-round tie in Logrono gave Spain, missing injury casualties Rafael Nadal, Fernando Verdasco and Juan Carlos Ferrero, an unbeatable 3-1 lead as they bid for a third consecutive title.
Mikhail Youzhny booked Russia's place in the last eight when he thrashed India's Somdev Devvarman 6-2 6-1 6-3 in Moscow en route to a 3-2 win.
The 2006 champions will next face Sweden or Argentina.
France, 2009 finalists Czech Republic and 2005 winners Croatia all progressed 3-0 on Saturday, the French defeating Germany in Toulon, Czech Republic ousting Belgium in Bree and the Croats seeing off Ecuador in Varazdin.
World number 16 Ferrer 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 into the ground and incurring a point penalty.
Crowd support
The Swiss, leading his side in the absence of world number one 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.
"The match against France will be a tough hurdle but I think we have the squad to keep this run going."
The Czechs will play Chile or Israel in July's quarters, while Croatia will take on the United States or Serbia.
The tie between Chile and Israel in Coquimbo was rescheduled to start on Saturday because of the disruption caused by last weekend's earthquake and the Chileans opened up a 2-0 lead.
Results
Davis Cup world group first round:
Spain beat Switzerland 4-1
Nicolas Almagro (Spain) beat Marco Chiudinelli (Switzerland) 6-1 6-3; David Ferrer (Spain) beat Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) 6-2 6-4 6-0
France beat Germany 4-1
