BOLOGNA, Italy — Marcel Granolles and Pedro Martínez Portelo defeated Tomas Machak and Jakub Mencik in the doubles final as Spain won 2-1 on Thursday, defeating the Czech Republic and advancing to the Davis Cup semifinals.
Granolles and Martinez played in the absence of top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, a six-time Grand Slam champion who withdrew from Spain’s national team due to a hamstring injury.
Spain, who had not reached the semifinals since winning the last of their six Davis Cup titles in 2019, will next face second-seeded Germany, who defeated Argentina 2-1.
Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz defeated Andres Molteni and Horacio Zeballos in a third-set tie-break in the doubles final, giving Germany a victory in the quarterfinals.
Argentina was aiming for its 100th Davis Cup victory.
The 20-year-old Mencic hit 20 aces along the way to give the Czech team the lead, defeating veteran Pablo Carreno Busta 7-5, 6-4. Jaume Munar then defeated world No. 17 Jiri Rejeca 6-3, 6-4 to win his first Davis Cup singles title for Spain.
“I was pretty confident in my tennis,” Munar said. “It didn’t matter who was in front of me. I had a lot of confidence in myself, that’s the most important thing.”
The fourth-seeded Czech Republic was aiming to return to the semifinals for the first time since 2014.
In doubles, Krawietz and Puetz won 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10), with both teams wasting match points.
Argentina was aiming to advance to the semifinals for the first time since winning in 2016. Germany was a semifinalist last year.
Leaders Italy, aiming for their third consecutive victory and fourth place overall, will face Belgium in the other semi-final. The Italian team is without world No. 2 Jannik Sinner, who is resting.
The Davis Cup final in Bologna will be the sixth of the revamped event to determine the champion on a neutral site.
