U.S. loses in first-round of Davis Cup

CARSON, Calif. -- The United States remains in a Davis Cup slump.

Ivan Ljubicic beat Andy Roddick in a taut, five-set marathon Sunday to give Croatia an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the opening-round Davis Cup matches.

Playing iron man for his country, Ljubicic outlasted Roddick 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (11), 6-7 (7), 6-2 in a match that lasted almost 4 hours.

"It's tough to describe. Really, really bad," a dejected Roddick said. "There's no worse feeling than losing a match in Davis Cup in our sport, especially when your teammates are counting on you. There's so many people that you're playing for and that you feel like you've let down."

The final singles match was reduced to essentially an exhibition since Croatia had clinched the round. Andre Agassi was scheduled to play Mario Ancic, but doubles specialist Bob Bryan filled in for the United States and beat Roko Karanusic 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.

The 25-year-old Ljubicic began the round with a straight-set win over Agassi, then teamed with Ancic to hand Bob Bryan and his twin brother, Mike, their first Davis Cup loss in six matches.

Ljubicic also played and won three first-round matches in 2003 in Zagreb when Croatia eliminated the United States.

The Americans, who lost to Spain in the finals last year, have won the Cup 31 times, but haven't taken it since 1995. The drought is their longest in 68 years.

The 34-year-old Agassi rejoined the U.S. team to try to help end the winless streak, but he lost his only match, to Ljubicic in Friday's opening singles. Roddick beat Ancic in four sets in their match the first day.

Both Roddick and Ljubicic played extremely well in their exciting match, with Roddick's serves reaching as high as 152 mph. But Ljubicic was able to punch back some of the powerful first serves, and he pounced on Roddick's 73 second serves to win 41 points.

After winning the fourth-set tiebreaker, Roddick immediately lost his serve in the opening game of the fifth set. Ljubicic broke through again in the fifth game to take clear control.

Ljubicic, on a roll that has carried him to four tour finals this year, was proud to win for his country.

"I think all around the world, this is going to be big news because to beat Andre, Bryans and Roddick in three days, I think it's a great effort," he said.

"I was thinking if I could just win one singles, just to keep up the momentum and just keep the confidence up. But I did it all the way, so it is just amazing."

The Croatian, no slouch himself serving, often hit the mid 130-mph range, and his 19 aces matched Roddick's total.

Playing three matches in as many days may have started to take a toll on Ljubicic, with his right knee tightening up in the fifth set of the 3 hour, 58-minute match against Roddick.

"Unfortunately for me, he can still serve 135 (mph) while getting treatment for cramps," Roddick said.

When Ljubicic finished it off with a service winner, the Croatian team locked arms and broke into an impromptu jig on the court.

Croatia seemed to have almost as many fans as the U.S. team in the lively, drum-banging and somewhat rowdy crowd of 6,584. Southern California is home to a large number of transplanted Croatians.

Croatia moves on to the quarterfinals against Romania, which defeated Belarus in the first round.

France 3, Sweden 2

At Strasbourg, France, Paul-Henri Mathieu blew three match points before finally outlasting gritty Thomas Johansson 6-1, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-4 of Sweden to clinch the victory for France.

Sweden tied the match earlier in the day when Joachim Johansson rallied from a set down to beat Sebastien Grosjean 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-1. France moves on to play Russia in the quarterfinals.

Russia 4, Chile 1

At Moscow, Australian Open champion Marat Safin beat Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-7 (3), 6-4 to send Russia into the quarterfinals. Nikolay Davydenko also beat Paul Capdeville 6-2, 6-1.

Russia will play France in July.

Romania 3, Belarus 2

At Brasov, Romania, Victor Hanescu beat Vladimir Voltchkov 7-6 (2), 6-4, 7-6 (6) to put Romania into the quarterfinals. Earlier in the day, top Romanian player Andrei Pavel defeated Max Mirnyi 6-1, 7-6 (0), 4-6, 6-3.

Argentina 5, Czech Republic 0

At Buenos Aires, Argentina, Agustin Calleri and Guillermo Coria easily won to help Argentina sweep the Czech Republic. Calleri defeated Tomas Zib 6-2, 6-4 and Coria beat Jan Hernych 6-3, 6-0. Argentina will face Australia in Sydney in the quarterfinals July 15-17.

Australia 5, Austria 0

At Sydney, Australia, Todd Woodbridge and Chris Guccione both won singles matches to complete a sweep for the home team.

Netherlands 3, Switzerland 2

At Fribourg, Switzerland, Sjeng Schalken defeated Stanislas Wawrinka 1-6, 6-2, 6-4, 2-6, 9-7 to move the Netherlands into the quarterfinals. In the second singles match, Peter Wessels led Marco Chiudinelli 6-4 but withdrew with a back injury.

The Dutch will meet Slovakia in the next round.

Slovakia 4, Spain 1

At Bratislava, Slovakia, Fernando Verdasco beat Kamil Capkovic 6-2, 6-2 to earn a point for defending champion Spain, which was eliminated the day before by Slovakia. In the other singles match, Slovakia's Michal Mertinak beat Feliciano Lopez 6-0, 6-7 (3), 6-4.

Slovakia will face the Netherlands in the quarterfinals.