Spain beats Kazakhstan, secures Davis Cup quarters

OVIEDO, Spain (AP) -Defending champion Spain secured a place in the Davis Cup quarterfinals by winning Saturday's doubles against Kazakhstan and securing an insurmountable 3-0 lead.

Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez, partnering for the first time in the competition, eased to a 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 victory over Kazakh pair Evgeny Korolev and Yuriy Schukin on indoor clay.

Juan Carlos Ferrero and Nicolas Almagro won their singles on Friday as the hosts' secured a 22nd straight win on home soil and 24th straight on clay. Spain's last loss at home came in 1999.

New captain Alex Corretja celebrated his first victory since replacing Albert Costa while Lopez made a very steady Davis Cup debut as Spain won a doubles for the first time in a year. Lopez and Granollers broke their opponents six times, never had to face a break point and won 59 of 73 service points.

"It was like when you have a bad dream and you can't wake up," Korolev said after the pair was dispatched in 1 hour, 46 minutes. "Nothing worked."

Spain will play either Austria or Russia from April 6-8, with Austria leading 2-0. Spain would host Austria or travel to Russia.

Spain was without Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco for the tie after the four regulars helped it to a third title in four years in December. All four said they would be unavailable to play this year due to the busy calendar.

Kazakhstan goes into September's playoff to keep its place in the World Group.

Reverse singles are scheduled for Sunday.