The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Russia takes 2-0 lead

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Russia takes 2-0 lead

MOSCOW: Nikolay Davydenko struggled past Davis Cup rookie Viktor Troicki 6-1, 1-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 to give Russia a 2-0 lead over an ailing Serbian team in their first-round Davis Cup World Croup match here on Friday.

Earlier, Mikhail Youzhny rallied to beat last-minute substitute Nenad Zimonjic 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in the opening singles.

Fourth-ranked Davydenko breezed through the first set but then ran into trouble against the 114th-ranked Troicki and was drawn into a five-set battle.

Youzhny had been drawn to play Novak Djokovic, but the Australian Open champion became the second player after team-mate Janko Tipsarevic to pull out of the opening singles, citing flu symptoms.

At Sibiu, Romania, Australian Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Austrian veteran Andrei Pavel 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in just over three hours to mark a successful Davis Cup debut for France. Earlier Richard Gasquet had eased past Victor Hanescu 7-6(5), 6-4, 7-5.

Roddick stretched

At Vienna, Andy Roddick was taken to five sets by Jurgen Melzer, struggling on the slow indoor clay Friday before winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 to give the defending champion United States a 1-0 lead.

The results:

At Ramat Hasharon (Israel): Israel tied with Sweden 1-1 (Dudi Sela bt Jonas Bjorkman 7-6(8), 6-3, 6-1; Harel Levy lost to Thomas Johansson 1-6, 1-6, 3-6.

At Moscow (Russia): Russia leads Serbia 2-0 (Mikhail Youzhny bt Nenad Zimonjic 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4; Nikolay Davydenko bt Viktor Troicki 6-1, 1-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2)

At Sibiu (Romania): France leads Romania 2-0 (Victor Hanescu lost to Richard Gasquet 6-7(5), 4-6, 5-7; Andrei Pavel lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6(2), 4-6, 4-6, 4-6).

At Braunschweig (Germany): Germany leads South Korea 1-0 (Philipp Kohlschreiber bt An Jae-sung 6-2, 6-2, 6-2).

At Buenos Aires (Argentina): Argentina leads Great Britain 2-0 (David Nalbandian bt Jamie Baker 6-1, 6-3, 6-3; Agustin Calleri bt Alex Bogdanovic 6-3, 6-2, 6-1).

At Vienna (Austria): USA lead Austria 1-0 (Jurgen Melzer lost to Andy Roddick 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(4), 3-6).

At Ostrava (Czech Republic): Czech Republic leads Belgium 1-0 (Tomas Berdych bt Kristof Vliegen 6-3, 6-1, 6-4.

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