DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP)—Bob and Mike Bryan gave the United States a 2-1 win over Spain on Wednesday by winning the decisive doubles match at the World Team Cup.
It was the Americans’ second straight group stage victory, and they will play the Czech Republic for a spot in Saturday’s final.
After the teams split the singles matches Tuesday, the Bryan twins beat Daniel Gimeno-Lopez and Marc Lopez 6-3, 7-5 to end Spain’s hopes of reaching the final.
Also in the Red Group, the Czechs beat Australia 2-1 after Tomas Berdych clinched the series with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) win over Carsten Ball.
Berdych had expected to face Lleyton Hewitt, but the former No. 1 withdrew because of a stomach problem. Berdych struggled against Ball and had to save eight of the nine break points he faced before closing out the match with an ace.
“You are just preparing all day to play Lleyton Hewitt, you get some tactics or whatever, strategy, and then just change it in the last moment,” Berdych said. “So, it was a quite tough one. He was playing well.”
In the Blue Group, France beat Serbia 2-1 and will play Argentina for a spot in the final. The Argentines overcame Germany by the same score, despite trailing 1-0 after Tuesday’s opening singles match.
Eduardo Schwank evened the series by beating Germany’s Andreas Beck 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-3, before Juan Monaco and Horacio Zeballos teamed to beat Christopher Kas and Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-3 in the doubles.
Jeremy Chardy and Nicolas Mahut won the decisive doubles match for France by overcoming Viktor Troicki and Nenad Zimonjic 7-6 (4), 6-2.
The final round-robin matches will be played over two days, with the winner of each group advancing to the final.