DAVIS CUP FINAL SCHEDULE Friday 2 December Ljubicic bt Kucera 6-3 6-4 6-3 Hrbaty bt Ancic 7-6 6-3 6-7 6-4 Saturday 3 December Ancic/Ljubicic bt Hrbaty/Mertinak 7-6 6-3 7-6 Sunday 4 December Hrbaty v Ljubicic (1300 GMT) Kucera v Ancic Beck withdraws from Cup doubles

Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic beat Dominik Hrbaty and Michael Mertinak 7-6 (7/5) 6-3 7-6 (7/5) on the second day of the thrilling clash.

Hrbaty partnered Mertinak after Karol Beck withdrew with a knee injury.

Croatia need just one more win in Sunday's two reverse singles rubbers to clinch Davis Cup victory.

After Friday's singles were split, the doubles rubber took on added importance for the two sides who are both appearing in their first final.

With Beck suffering from a knee injury - and unconfirmed rumours of a positive drugs test during September's semi-final against Argentina - Hrbaty was called into action just a few hours before the start of the match.

Slovakia had their chances, particularly when Mertinak served for the first set at 5-4, but they were made to pay heavily for failing to take them.

Ljubicic powered home an ace to seal a scrappy tie-break 7-5 and after that the Croatian duo never looked back.

Hrbaty dropped serve twice in a one-sided second set and the pair held their nerve to edge the third in another tie-break and secure victory in two hours and 48 minutes.

The doubles triumph may prove decisive as Croatia go into the final day as clear favourites.

World number nine Ljubicic will be up first on Sunday as he attempts to extend his record number of live rubbers won in a year to 12 with victory against 19th-ranked Hrbaty.

John McEnroe is the only other person to win 12 rubbers when he played in 1982, but not all were live.

Even if Hrbaty beats Ljubicic, Slovakia face a daunting task in the final match with Karol Kucera, ranked a lowly 297, taking on world number 22 Ancic.