Sport - Tennis

Davydenko, Andreev put Russia in front

MOSCOW: Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev battled from a set down to beat Czech pair of Radek Stepanek and Pavel Vizner to put Russia 2-1 ahead in the Davis Cup quarterfinal here on Saturday. The host won 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in two hours 58 minutes.

“We started really unimpressive and needed some time to adapt to each other and remember how to play doubles,” Davydenko said after the match.

“But starting from the second set we played our normal tennis and really enjoyed the playing.”

In the fourth set, the Russian pair broke Vizner’s serve early again to clinch a 3-1 lead, which they confidently kept through taking the 10th game at love and the match on the first matchpoint.

On Friday, after Marat Safin had battled from two sets down to put Russia in the lead, Stepanek pulled it back for the Czech Republic beating Andreev 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

In Bremen, Rafael Nadal shrugged off a bout of jet-leg to beat Nicolas Kiefer before David Ferrer outpunched Philipp Kohlschreiber to give visiting Spain a 2-0 lead over Germany on day one of their Davis Cup quarterfinal, on Friday.

Nadal, who has had trouble sleeping since flying in from Miami at the start of the week, made a sluggish start on the indoor hard court but edged an 88-minute first set and went on to win 7-6(5), 6-0, 6-3.

Ferrer also started slowly, losing the first set against the top German player before coming through 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

James Blake’s perseverance and Andy Roddick’s power gave the host USA a commanding 2-0 lead over France in the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Winston Salem.

Blake overcame his history of fifth-set woes, fighting off two match points to beat Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 and Roddick ripped 30 aces on the fast hard-court in a 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6 (5) win over Michael Llodra in the opener.

Robin Soderling brought Sweden back into the quarterfinal against Argentina in Buenos Aires when he demolished Jose Acasuso 6-0, 6-4, 6-1 on Friday after David Nalbandian had beaten Thomas Johansson 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in the opening rubber.

Argentina captain Alberto Mancini’s decision to play Acasuso ahead of the higher-ranked Guillermo Canas and Juan Monaco backfired and Soderling strolled through the first set. Acasuso came to life in the second set which produced four breaks of serve. However, the Argentine surrendered the set with a double fault in the 10th game.

The third set was almost a repetition of the first.

“There’s no reason to think that we can’t win at least one singles on Sunday and in doubles anything can happen,” said Sweden captain Mats Wilander.

The results:

In Moscow: Russia 2 - Czech Republic 1 [Nikolay Davydenko & Igor Andreev bt Radek Stepanek & Pavel Vizner 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4; Andreev lost to Stepanek 6-3, 6-2, 6-4].

In Bremen: Spain 2 - Germany 0 [Nicolas Kiefer lost to Rafael Nadal 7-6(5), 6-0, 6-3; Philipp Kohlschreiber lost to David Ferrer 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2].

In Winston-Salem: USA 2 - France 0 [Andy Roddick bt Michael Llodra 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6 (5); James Blake bt Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-3, 3-6, 7-5].

In Buenos Aires: Argentina 1 - Sweden 1 [David Nalbandian bt Thomas Johansson 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2; Jose Acasuso lost to Robin Soderling 6-0, 6-4, 6-1]. — Agencies

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