MINSK, 8 February 2004 — Marat Safin and Mikhail Youzhny gave Russia a 2-1 lead in their Davis Cup World Group first round tie against Belarus yesterday by beating emergency pairing Max Mirnyi and Alexander Shvets 6-4, 7-5, 7-6.
Shvets replaced injured Vladimir Voltchkov, who was forced to retire with a twisted ankle during Friday’s singles against Russian debutant Igor Andreev.
Australian Open runner-up Safin and Youzhny were also playing doubles together for the first time and looked much more powerful and quicker than their opponents.
In Brno, Czech Republic, last year’s Davis Cup finalists Spain were left just one rubber defeat away from going out of this year’s competition after Jiri Novak and Radek Stepanek won the doubles for the Czech Republic to take a 2-1 lead in their Davis Cup World Group first-round tie. Novak and Stepanek beat Tommy Robredo and Rafael Nadal 6-4, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 to give the Czechs an edge after Friday’s singles were shared.
In Sydney, Jonas Bjorkman and Joachim Johansson won an epic doubles match to give Sweden a 2-1 lead over defending champions Australia in their first-round Davis Cup tie in Adelaide.
The Swedes survived a fightback from the Australian pair of Todd Woodbridge and Wayne Arthurs to win 7-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-7, 7-5 on a scorching hot day at the Memorial Drive tennis center.
The result left Sweden needing to win just one of Sunday’s two reverse singles to advance to the quarterfinals against either the United States or Austria.
In Invercargill, New Zealand, India took a 2-1 lead in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group 1 tie against New Zealand, when the former world champion combination of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi reunited to take the doubles in straight sets.
The Indians were too experienced and too quick around the net for the Kiwi pair Mark Nielsen and Matt Prentice, winning 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) in just over two hours.
In Maastricht, Netherlands, Canada were given an unexpected Davis Cup reprieve when an injury to veteran Dutchman Paul Haarhuis gifted them victory in the doubles.
In Metz, France, Michael Llodra and Nicolas Escude showed class on their Davis Cup debut, beating Croatia’s Mario Ancic and Ivo Karlovic 6-1, 7-6, 6-3 to give France a 2-1 lead in their World Group tie.
In Agadir, Morocco, Agustin Calleri and Lucas Arnold secured Argentina a place in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 doubles victory against Morocco.
In Uncasville, Connecticut, the United States booked a berth in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup World Group as Bob and Mike Bryan beat Austrians Julian Knowle and Jurgen Melzer to give the Americans an unassailable 3-0 lead in their first-round tie.The Bryan brothers posted a 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 victory to render today’s reverse singles meaningless.
In Bucharest, Australian Open champion Roger Federer and Yves Allegro carved out a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 3-6, 10-8 win over Romanian duo Andrei Pavel and Gabriel Trifu to give Switzerland a 2-1 lead in their Davis Cup World Group tie.
The Swiss pair had to dig deep before overcoming the Romanians in three hours and 35 minutes.
