Haas crushes Ljubicic to seal German victory

KREFELD, Germany, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Tommy Haas sealed Germany's place in the Davis Cup quarter-finals when his crushing 6-2 7-6 6-4 victory over Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic gave the three-times champions a 3-1 winning lead today.

Haas returned superbly to break world number eight Ljubicic twice in the first set.

The German, who was never in trouble on his own serve, took the second set 9-7 on the tiebreak and wrapped up the third with a break in game three to complete victory in two hours 20 minutes on the indoor hardcourt.

Haas had also won his opening singles against Mario Ancic on Friday. Ljubicic levelled the tie for Croatia, the 2005 winners, by beating Benjamin Becker before Germany gained the edge with a doubles win yesterday.

Germany won the last of their Davis Cups in 1993 and the last time they reached the quarter-finals was in 2001. Their reward is a tie against either Belgium or Australia in April.

REUTERS DH VC2106