Sweden, Germany and the United States have 2-0 leads while defending champion Russia is tied with France after the first day of the Davis Cup tennis quarterfinal round.
At Moscow's Luzhniki arena, Paul-Henri Mathieu shocked the Russians with a four-set win over world No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko (2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 7-5). Mikhail Youzhny evened the best-of-five match series with a five set win over Richard Gasquet (6-2, 6-3, 6-7, 5-7, 8-6).
Meanwhile in Gothenberg, Sweden, Thomas Johansson scored a four-set win over David Nalbandian (6-7, 7-6, 6-2, 7-6). Robin Soderling then gave Sweden the advantage with a straight-sets win over Juan Martin del Potro (7-6, 7-6, 6-4).
In Ostend, Belgium, the German squad continued its dominance of the Belgians. Tommy Haas beat Kristof Vliegen in four sets (6-7, 7-5, 6-4, 6-2). Philipp Kohlschreiber scored a straight-sets win over Olivier Rochus (6-3, 7-5, 7-6).
The United States took a 1-0 lead over Spain when James Blake beat Tommy Robredo in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. World No. 3 Andy Roddick gave the Americans the advantage with a straight-sets win over Fernando Verdasco of Spain in the second match (7-6, 6-1, 6-4).
The doubles matches are Saturday with the reverse singles Sunday. The winners this week advance to the Davis Cup semifinals in September.
Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.
