Spain advances to Davis semis

With Rafael Nadal nervously cheering courtside after winning his match earlier in the day, David Ferrer sealed Spain’s 3-2 comeback victory over Germany in the Davis Cup quarterfinals with a thrilling fiveset victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Ferrer needed nearly five hours to defeat Kohlschreiber 7-6 (1), 3-6, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-5 at the packed bull ring in Valencia, guaranteeing Spain’s return to the semifinals for the first time since 2012. Spain will face France, which defeated Italy 3-1.

Nadal and the local crowd erupted in celebration when the 33rdranked Ferrer successfully served for the match after breaking Kohlschreiber’s serve in the previous game. Kohlschreiber, No. 34 in the world, ended with 114 unforced errors.

Spain extended its winning streak at home to 27 ties. Italy holds the Davis Cup record with a 29-tie unbeaten run at home from 1949-64. Spain has not lost a tie as host since the first round in 1999 against Brazil.

The top-ranked Nadal cruised to a 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 victory over fourthranked Alexander Zverev in the first match Sunday to keep Spain alive after entering the day trailing 2-1. In other news:

Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands overpowered Germany’s Julia Goerges to cap a long day at the Volvo Car Open in Charleston, S.C., with a 6-2, 6-1 victory for her fourth career WTA title and third in the last 11 months. The 12th-seeded Bertens and fifth-seeded Goerges each had a pair of matches to play with rain washing out Saturday’s semifinals. Bertens had a grueling, threesetter to oust American Madison Keys; Goerges completed her match with Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova — the two got to 4-all in the opening set before the rains came — in about 25 minutes.

Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza of Spain won the Abierto GNP Seguros at Monterrey, Mexico, for her fourth title of the year, beating Timea Babos of Hungary 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.