Tennis:Spain booked a fourth Davis Cup final appearance in five years with victory over the United States in Gijon. David Ferrer's 6-7 (3/7) 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory over John Isner saw the holders into a 3-1 lead and set up a showdown with Argentina or the Czech Republic.
Ferrer came into the match unbeaten in 15 home Davis Cup rubbers, so he scarcely needed the helping hand Isner offered with 70 unforced errors.
The big American did take the opening set, but his opponent dominated from there on and secured Spain's 24th consecutive home success - a run which goes back to 1999 when Brazil defeated them.
The final dead rubber was not played.
Meanwhile, Roger Federer secured Switzerland's place in the World Group in 2013, beating Robin Haase, of the Netherlands, in straight sets. Federer won 6-1 6-4 6-4 in Amsterdam to earn his side their crucial third point of the tie.
Germany also kept their place in the top tier of the tournament with a 3-2 comeback win over Australia.
The Germans needed to win both reverse singles on Sunday but that did that with ease as Florian Mayer and Cedrik-Marcel Stebe both posted straight-sets wins over Bernard Tomic and Lleyton Hewitt respectively.
Kazakhstan, Israel, Belgium, Italy and Brazil will also be in the hat for Wednesday's draw after winning their play-off ties.