Netherlands defeat Germany to reach Davis Cup final for first time

An inspired Netherlands team made Davis Cup history on Friday, defeating Germany 2-0 to advance to the final for the first time in history.

Singles victories for Botic Van de Zandschulp and Tallon Griekspoor ignited a celebration among an army of orange-clad Dutch fans inside the Jose Maria Martin Carpena arena.

In the final on Sunday, Paul Haarhuis' team will face either defending champions Italy or Australia. They will meet each other in the second semi-final on Saturday.

Van de Zandschulp, who ended Spanish great Rafa Nadal's career on Tuesday, retained his composure to defeat Daniel Altmaier 6-4 6-7(12) 6-3, despite needing 10 match points to give his team the advantage in the semi-final.

The world number 80 has won all three rubbers this week, including the deciding doubles against Spain on Tuesday, defeating Carlos Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers.

Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff appeared to be keeping the three-time winners in contention for a first final appearance since 1993, leading by a set and a break of serve against Griekspoor.

But the 40th-ranked Griekspoor rallied to win 6-7(4) 7-5 6-4, completing the victory with his 25th ace.

After winning the first set and leading in the second, Van de Zandschulp, 29, appeared to be on his way to a comfortable victory. However, he was dragged into a protracted 26-point tiebreak in which he watched five match points go begging before Altmaier grabbed one to send the match to a deciding set.

Van de Zandschulp took the lead in the decider, only to allow Altmaier back, but then broke serve again to lead 5-3 as both players fought to sustain a high level.

Nervous, he served three double faults in an attempt to close off the match, one on a match point, but eventually won.

The second singles was a significantly higher-quality match, with both players playing great tennis on the fast indoor courts.

Struff rarely made a mistake in winning the first set, but he will regret not taking either of the two break points he had when Griekspoor served at 3-4 in the second set.

Griekspoor raced back to outplay his opponent and retained his calm in the deafening noise to hold serve for win.

SportsLigue