Davis Cup hosts and reigning champions Spain have taken a 2-0 lead over Israel thanks to devastating singles performances.
Ferrero and Ferrer claim an early lead for the hosts in Murcia
Davis Cup hosts and reigning champions Spain have taken a 2-0 lead over Israel thanks to devastating singles performances from Juan Carlos Ferrero and David Ferrer in their World Group semi-final.
Ferrer hammered Harel Levy 6-1 6-4 6-3 and Ferrero followed up with a 6-4 6-2 6-0 thrashing of Dudi Sela, both players cheered on wildly by their home support in Murcia.
Israel are making their first appearance in the last four but they need to defeat the firm favourite home side in the doubles and two reverse singles to continue their Davis Cup aspirations.
Former French Open champion Ferrero, whose fine run of form has seen him ascend the world rankings to number 21, claimed victory over 29th ranked Sela on his first match point when the Israeli went wide with a forehand.
Victory
Despite being ranked more than one hundred places below world number 19 Ferrer, Levy found his range in the second set of opening singles and grabbed two breaks of serve but the Spaniard easily brought it back to claim his victory.
"It certainly wasn't as comfortable a win as it might have looked," said Ferrer. "The court was very slow and it was hard to finish off the points."
Injured pair Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco were present wearing Spanish team colours as they cheered on local favourite Ferrer from the stands of the purpose-built, 12,000 capacity arena.
Spain's Tommy Robredo and Feliciano Lopez will take to their favoured clay surface to meet doubles specialists Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram on Saturday, with the winners of the tie taking on Croatia or Czech Republic in the final at the beginning of December.
