BERLIN (AFP) -- German tennis greats Boris Becker and Michael Stich insist Germany can beat Russia in the Davis Cup semifinal which began at Moscow's Olympic Stadium on Friday.

""The German team are capable of reaching the final and that would create a small boom in Germany. I think we will win 3-2,"" Becker told daily newspaper Bild.
""It will effect the Russian team that their most important player, Marat Safin, is not there,"" said the former world number one.
The United States and Sweden are contesting the other semifinal in Gothenburg.
""To beat the Russians, Tommy Haas (German number one and ranked 11th in the world) has to win his two games and that will not be easy.""
But Becker, won the 1985 Wimbledon title aged just 17 and played in the 1995 Davis Cup semi-final defeat to Russia, is confident of a German win.
There are high hopes in the camp for German number two Philipp Kohlschreiber, ranked 32nd in the world, who played Davydenko in Friday's opening game.
And 1991 Wimbledon champion Stich added: ""Germany may not have the best players, but the team has a great spirit and that is the key which opens all doors in the Davis Cup.""
Germany have won the cup three times in 1988, 1989 and 1993, this last success in spite of the absence of Becker