Following a comfortable straight sets win by Fernando Gonzalez over Marat Safin 6-3, 7-5, 6-4, Russia has found a new hero - Igor Andreev followed up his first rubber win over Gonzalez with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-7, 6-4 victory against Nicolas Massu to send the defending champions into the quarter finals where they will host France. The victory ended Chile's 10 match home tie winning streak to disappoint the home fans.

Ranked 147 in the world Andreev is the most unlikely hero as he was not even expected to play singles in the tie. Dmitry Tursunov was forced to withdraw from the tie due to a wrist injury paving the way for Andreev.

The 2005 Davis Cup holders Croatia were not so lucky. Tommy Haas lead the German charge and defeated Ivan Ljubicic 6-2, 7-6(7), 6-4 to take out the former champions. Haas, who this weekend defeated two top ten players, probably played his best ever in the Davis cup competition. In the dead fifth rubber young Croatian Marin Cilic defeated Benjamin Becker 6-4, 1-6, 6-1. Germany will travel to Belgium in the next round.

The tie between Australia and Belgium was taken to a deciding fifth rubber after Lleyton Hewitt defeated Olivier Rochus in five sets 6-2, 6-3, 6-7(4), 3-6, 6-1. The former world number one could have won in straight sets and was just two points from doing that before a strong comeback by Rochus. In the end Hewitt's superior fitness helped him take the match. This set the stage for either Chris Guccione or Kristof Vliegen to be the hero. In the end it was Vliegen who sent the local team through to the next round as he defeated Guccione 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

Guccione was in the exact situation last year against Austria and on that occasion was able to get Australia through. Vliegen who on Friday had surprised Lleyton Hewitt with a tough five set win was simply too good for the big Australian on this occasion.

French captain Guy Forget has heaped praise on his number one player after Richard Gasquet lead France to a comfortable 4-1 victory over Romania. Gasquet followed up his victory on Friday with a straight sets win over Andrei Pavel 6-3, 6-2, 7-5. With the tie already wrapped up Arnaud Clement beat Florian Mergea 7-5, 7-6(3). The only highlight this weekend for the Romanian's was their epic five set win in the doubles.

The U.S. won a clay court tie for the first time in 10 years. The outcome was never really in doubt and Andy Roddick was able to wrap it up after a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(7) win over Tomas Berdych. In the dead rubber USA captain Patrick McEnroe substituted James Blake with Bob Bryan - he took advantage of his chance to improve his singles record and defeated Lukas Dlouhy 7-6(5), 6-4. The US now hosts Spain in the quarter finals.

Spain advanced to the quarter finals for the first time in three years following the away win over Switzerland. In a tie that could have included the number one and two players in the world it was left to lesser known players to control the fate of their countries.

Fernando Verdasco made amends for his first rubber loss by sealing victory for the Spaniards after he defeated Stephane Bohli 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. In the dead rubber Marco Chiudinelli beat David Ferrer 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Switzerland went into the tie without world number one Roger Federer who has decided to concentrate on his own quest for glory and rest himself
while Spain lost number two ranked Rafael Nadal through injury before the tie started.

Like Chile, Belarus were unable to add to a 10-match home winning streak when they hosted Sweden in Minsk. The hero for Sweden was Robin Soderling who defeated
Max Mirnyi in a closely contested and dramatic five-setter. The final score was 6-7(8), 7-5, 6-7(8), 7-6(3),6-3. Soderling appeared to benefit from having a day's rest on Saturday and in the end was too strong for Mirnyi. In the dead rubber Vladimir Voltchkov defeated Thomas Johansson 6-3, 7-5.

Sweden will host Argentina in the quarter finals where they have a chance to avenge the loss to the South Americans in the first round last year.

A new star has emerged for Argentina - Juan-Martin Del Potro took advantage of his introduction to the Davis Cup and he played a starring role in his country's win over Austria. The Austrians would have fancied themselves going into the home tie but they were not able to overcome the strong South Americans.

Del Potro, ranked 67, showed he is a player of the future when he defeated the number 30 ranked Jurgen Melzer in five tough sets. The final score was 7-6(4), 6
-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. The win for Argentina is even more impressive as they did not have the services of several of their higher ranked players including world number 11 David Nalbandian.

This article courtesy of tennis-fanatic.com