Roddick helps USA gain lead
Roddick found the clay surface was not to his liking
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Saturday, 09, Feb 2008 11:01
Andy Roddick has beaten Jurgen Melzer in five sets to help give America a 2-0 lead in their Davis Cup world group match against Austria.
Roddick was clearly uncomfortable on the clay surface in Vienna but prevailed 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 in a gruelling affair against the world number 57.
James Blake then took to the court for the defending champions and was able to bounce back from a terrible slump at the end of the first set and start of the second set to beat Stefan Koubek 5-7 7-5 6-2 6-2.
Blake served for the first set at 5-4 but was broken and ended up losing it 5-7. He then fell 2-5 behind in the second set before mounting an astonishing comeback to win it 7-5.
He carried that momentum for the rest of the match and was able to take the third and fourth sets relatively easily.
Following the withdrawal of Novak Djokovic and Janko Tipsarevic Russia had a much easier time against Serbia than they had expected.
Mikhail Youzhny beat Nenad Zimonjic 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-4, and Nikolay Davydenko eventually won a fluctuating match against Viktor Troicki 6-1 1-6 6-3 1-6 6-2, to give the hosts a 2-0 lead in Moscow.
Elsewhere in the world group France claimed a 2-0 lead over Romania in Sibiu thanks to Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Making his Davis Cup debut Tsonga beat Andrei Pavel 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 6-4 6-4.
In Peru Nicolas Almagro and Tommy Robredo both won their opening rubbers to give Spain a 2-0 advantage heading into the doubles, while Czech Republic are 2-0 ahead against Belgium thanks to wins for Tomas Berdych and Kristof Vliegen.