CASTELLON, Spain (AP)—Nicolas Almagro and David Ferrer easily won their Davis Cup singles to give Spain a 2-0 quarterfinals lead over Austria on Friday, putting the defending champions on course for a 23rd straight home win.
Almagro, Spain’s No. 2, broke Melzer five times in an outdoor clay match that the 12th-ranked Spaniard dominated, winning 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 in under two hours.
Fifth-ranked Ferrer improved to 13-0 in clay singles with an even easier win, routing 139th-ranked Andreas Haider-Maurer 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 as the five-time champions narrowed in on their first victory over Austria in 33 years.
“It was easier than I expected, he didn’t make a lot of shots,” said Ferrer, who simply overpowered an opponent who looked ill at ease with a foot problem. “It’s very important to be up 2-0 at the end of the first day.”
Spain, which hasn’t lost on clay since a 1999 defeat to Brazil, can secure its passage into the semifinals with a victory in Saturday’s doubles.
Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez are scheduled to face Alexander Peya and Oliver Marach at the purpose-built site in Marina d’Or, although Lopez has been bothered by a back problem.
“I’m not worried,” Spain captain Alex Corretja said. “If he can’t play we have David Ferrer or Nicolas Almagro to replace him.”
Rafael Nadal and Ferrer had said they would not play Davis Cup this season with the Olympics on the calendar, and though Nadal skipped this tie, Ferrer returned.
The 21st-ranked Melzer saved three break chances to hold his opening serve, but was barely in the match until the third set. Melzer fired long for the Spaniard to seal the first set in just 33 minutes.
“He was nervous, at the start you could see he was tense,” said Almagro, who won 15 straight points to close the first set and open the second, when he went ahead thanks to an opening break of the Austria No. 1’s serve.
Almagro led 4-0 before closing out the second set with one of nine aces.
Melzer’s racket was left mangled after he smashed it into the clay in frustration after Almagro broke again to open the third set.
While the former French Open semifinalist found better form over the final set, Almagro never faced a break point won on his fifth match point.
“I knew I’d have chances and in the end I felt very comfortable,” Almagro said. “It may have been my best (Davis Cup) match, but it was a difficult match.”
Melzer’s dismantling certainly didn’t provide Haider-Maurer with a boost. Seemingly bothered by a foot problem, he smashed one of his 65 errors into the netting to lose his serve and a second straight set.
Ferrer, who has already won three tournaments this season, needed only 15 overall winners as he broke Haider-Maurer seven times to win in 86 minutes.
Spain, whose 1979 win over Austria was it’s only one in four prior ties, swept Kazakhstan 5-0 in the first round.
The winner will play France or the United States next.