Sela vs. Nadal: Israel to face Spain in Davis Cup semifinals

Spain completed a 3-2 victory over Germany in the Davis Cup tennis quarterfinals Sunday to set up a semifinal match-up against Israel.

Juan Carlos Ferrero beat Andreas Beck in the fifth and deciding match to clinch victory for the Davis Cup defending champion.

Spain will now host the semifinal against Israel on September 18-20. It will be a daunting task for Israel, given that Spain - which beat Germany without the injured world number two Rafael Nadal - has won 16 consecutive home series, a streak dating to 1999. Spain has won three Davis Cup titles in that span.

Israel wrapped up a stunning 4-1 win over Russia in its quarterfinal on Sunday when Harel Levy beat Igor Kunitsyn 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (2).

Earlier, Dudi Sela retired with a hand injury in his match against Igor Andreev with the Russian leading 4-3 in the first set. Neither of Sunday's matches had an impact on the final result as Israel had built an insurmountable 3-0 lead on Saturday following Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich's dramatic five-set defeat of Marat Safin and Kunitsyn.

Levy, who kicked off the improbable weekend with Friday's upset victory over the 24th-ranked Andreev, thanked the raucous local crowd for their support over the three days.

"This is your 4-1 (victory)," he said. "This is a lovely feeling because this was a great victory for all the national team together. I played today under much less pressure and played some good tennis."

The victory marks the first time Israel has made it past the quarterfinals, a stage it had only reached once before when it was beaten by India in 1987.

If Israel defeats Spain in September, it will play either Croatia at home or the Czech Republic away in the Davis Cup final in December.