ESPN Tennis

BENIDORM, Spain -- Top-ranked Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 on Sunday to clinch defending champion Spain's victory over Serbia in the first-round Davis Cup series.

Nadal's win gave Spain an insurmountable lead and a place in the quarterfinals, before David Ferrer beat Viktor Troicki 6-0, 6-3 in the meaningless last singles match to round off a 4-1 win.

The third-ranked Djokovic struggled with his serve and unforced errors on the outdoor clay at the Terra Mitica amusement park as Spain clinched its 15th straight home tie.

Spain, which failed to advance from the first round as defending champion in 2001 and 2005, will face Germany in July. Serbia lost in the first round for the second straight year and will play in the World Group playoff.

"For various factors, it wasn't good for us, it wasn't nice to lose the way we did," Djokovic said. "We just have to hope for the best draw come September."

Nadal, the top-ranked player and four-time French champion, won for the 121st time in his last 124 matches on clay as he made a spotless return to the court after injuring his right leg at Rotterdam last month. On Saturday, Nadal routed Janko Tipsarevic to put Spain up 2-0.

"The surface favored me, the ball was jumping high. I felt comfortable and he committed more errors than usual," Nadal said.

Nadal, who improved his overall record to 11-4 against the Serb including 6-0 on clay, brushed off suggestions that Djokovic's form had been poor this season.

"We've had two months of competition and he won Dubai, one of the biggest tournaments. I don't see any problem," Nadal said. "He always plays at a high level."

Serbia's only point came from doubles on Saturday, when Nenad Zimonjic and Troicki beat Tommy Robredo and Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (7).

Russia secures win over Romania

Dimitry Tursunov rallied from two sets down Sunday to beat Romania's Victor Hanescu, while Teimuraz Gabashvili later defeated Victor Crivoi to give Russia a 4-1 victory in the first-round series.

Tursunov prevailed 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in a match lasting nearly four hours to give Russia a spot in the quarterfinals.

Gabashvili later beat Crivoi 6-4, 6-2 in a match lasting just more than an hour.

Russia won the Davis Cup in 2006, then lost the final to the United States the next year. Romania has never won the tournament, and played its first Davis Cup match under new captain Andrei Pavel.

Czech Republic downs France

Radek Stepanek beat Gilles Simon 7-6,(2), 6-3, 7-6 (0) in the opening singles match to clinch the Czech Republic's win over France and a place in the quarterfinals.

Stepanek's win gave the hosts an insurmountable 3-1 lead and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Czech substitute Jan Hernych 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (0) in the final match to make the final score 3-2.

The Czechs will play Argentina, last year's runner-up, at home on July 10-12.

Israel edges Sweden

Israel advanced to the Davis Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 1987 after rallying to beat seven-time champion Sweden 3-2 in a series marred by anti-Israeli protests.

Harel Levy beat Andreas Vinciguerra 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 8-6 to decide the World Group first-round series in a near-empty arena.

Dudi Sela had even the series earlier Sunday by wearing out Thomas Johansson 3-6, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Only about 300 invitees were allowed to watch the match because city officials said they couldn't guarantee security at the venue. Critics, including the Israeli team, said Malmo was caving in to threats of violence from anti-Israel groups.

On Saturday, scores of rock-throwing protesters bent on stopping the match clashed with police in an attempt to storm the arena. Police apprehended nearly 100 people and arrested 10 of them on preliminary charges of rioting and assault. No injuries were reported.

Germany clinches vs. Austria

Germany advanced to the quarterfinals after Nicolas Kiefer defeated Austria's Juergen Melzer in the decisive singles match.

Kiefer finished off a 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-4 win in 2 hours, 26 minutes after Melzer's forehand went long to give Germany an insurmountable 3-1 lead. In the last match, Austria's Stefan Koubek beat Christopher Kas 6-2, 6-3 to make the final score 3-2.

Germany improved its Davis Cup record to 5-0 against Austria, which lost in the first round for the sixth time in a row.

Kiefer recently returned from an injury and replaced Rainer Schuettler, who lost to Koubek in Friday's opening singles match.

"After a lot of injuries, I am just having more fun now and enjoying the game more," said Kiefer, whose team now faces a rematch against defending champion Spain. "We have not had a lot of good results against Spain. And playing in Spain will make it even tougher. But we just have to take our chances."

Argentina sweeps Netherlands

Argentina won both reverse singles matches to sweep the Netherlands 5-0 and storm into the quarterfinals despite missing two top players.

Martin Vasallo Arguello beat Matwe Middelkoop 6-2, 6-4 and Juan Ignacio Chela defeated Thiemo De Bakker 7-5, 6-2 on clay at Parque Roca stadium after Argentina had started the day with an insurmountable 3-0 lead.

Argentina will visit the Czech Republic, which defeated France on Sunday, to play the quarterfinals from July 10-12.

Argentina was without seventh-ranked Juan Martin Del Potro, who declined to play, and No. 14 David Nalbandian, who was ill.

Croatia crushes Chile

Croatia recorded its first 5-0 sweep in a Davis Cup World Group series, completing a crushing victory over Chile in the reverse singles on its way to the quarterfinals.

Croatia, which had already clinched the win after Saturday's doubles, completed the rout with Roko Karanusic beating Guillermo Hormazabal 7-5, 6-3 and Ivo Karlovic defeating Hans Podlipnik-Castillo 6-3, 7-6 (4).

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.