Croatia will meet Slovakia in December's Davis Cup final after the fledgling nations clinched victories over more celebrated tennis countries.

The Croatians upset Russia, while Slovakia got the better of Argentina in their semi-final contests, both opening up unassailable 3-1 leads with victories in their opening singles rubbers.

Slovakia will have home advantage in the final, which is likely to be played at Bratislava, the scene of their win over Argentina.

Dominik Hrbaty put his country into the final when he dispatched Guillermo Coria 7-6 (7/2) 6-2 6-3.

Earlier in Split, Ivan Ljubicic had seen Croatia over the finishing line by prevailing 6-3 7-6 (8/6) 6-4 against Nikolay Davydenko.

Mario Ancic and Mikhail Youzhny then dropped out of the remaining dead rubber which saw Russia's Dmitry Tursunov beat Ivo Karlovic 6-4 6-4 to ensure that semi-final ended 3-2 in Croatia's favour.

Ljubicic was emotional after his win in the home town of Goran Ivanisevic, the 2001 Wimbledon champion.

Ljubicic, who has won his last 11 Davis Cup matches, told www.daviscup.com: "It is unbelievable really.

"From the first moment I played Davis Cup I wanted to win one match, win one by one, and we've gone through to the final.

"I hope we win three more points [in the final] because this is an historic performance.

"I can't put this into words. Maybe when I calm down a bit, but this crowd is incredible."

It marks a momentous moment in the sporting history of both nations which are only in their adolescence.

Croatia was created in 1991 during the bloody civil war in the former Yugoslavia while Slovakia seceded from Czechoslovakia on more peaceful terms two years later.