Spaniard David Ferrer staged one of the finest comebacks of his career by coming back from a two sets deficit to beat Czech Radek Stepanek 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 8-6 in a marathon four hours and 17 minutes of struggle.

Re-visit the magical moments of the marathon encounter, click here.

With the win, Ferrer gave defending champions and host Spain a formidable 2-0 lead in the final tie, which is being played at the Palau Sant Jordi Arena in Barcelona, Spain.

Ferrer started the match on a bad note and lost the opening two sets rather tamely. The Spaniard forced a shift in momentum in the third set when he broke Stepanek in the third game to race to a 3-1 lead. The Czech did square off the score at 3-3 by breaking Ferrer in the very next game, but could not keep his own serve under control and lost the third set by 6 games to 4. The fourth set told a similar tale when, after a series of service breaks, Ferrer forced a deciding fifth set. Both players gallantly held serves with Stepanek just two points from victory at 5-4. However, the Spaniard put in all his energy in the game and snatched a 'golden-break' in the 13th game to then close out the match in the decider.

"I couldn't see his weak side," said Ferrer about his early problems in the match. "I believe this one was one of the most tense matches I've ever played. I had wishes to cry after the first two sets and now is the same because I'm so happy. I have to also thank the crowd for their support."

Earlier in the day, World number two rafael Nadal posted a convenient straight sets victory over Tomas Berdych in an astonishing display of power tennis.