Andy Roddick overcame a lingering injury while James Blake clambered out of a slump as they led the United States to a 2-0 lead over Spain on Friday in their Davis Cup World Group quarter-final.
World number three Roddick, recovering from a hamstring pull, looked the picture of health as he charged from 5-2 down in the first set and overwhelmed Fernando Verdasco 7-6, 6-1, 6-4, winning on his sixth match point.
"I had to swallow my nerves to get it done," Roddick told reporters. "It felt like 12 (match points) but I wasn't counting. I just wanted to get off that court a winner."
The Americans moved into a 2-0 lead for the first time in seven ties. "It's great to be up 2-0 for a change -- but we still need that one final point," captain Patrick McEnroe told reporters.
The ninth-ranked Blake began the day by defeating world number six Tommy Robredo 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 to bolster recent sagging confidence.
Blake, who had lost six of his last nine matches, said he is on the road to recovery thanks to the victory.
"I'll be back to my old self in no time," Blake told reporters. "There were people in the stands who believed in me. It couldn't be a better feeling after winning this match."
A sold-out crowd of 15,000 cheered their hero from the start at the venue where Blake made his Davis Cup debut against India just weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S..
The American cracked open the first set with a break in the final game, then seized the second after taking a 4-1 lead over Robredo.
Robredo applied pressure as he broke while Blake was serving for victory at 5-2 in the third set but the American clinched the win two games later on his fourth match point.
"My forehand was working really well, it felt great to hit them," Blake told reporters. "But I had to fight hard against Tommy.
"At the end you could see why he's a top-10 player. They never die, I'm just glad I got through this one."
Spain are playing without Rafael Nadal as the world number two rests a foot injury. The nations last met in the 2004 final, with Spain winning in Seville in front of 27,000 fans.
RUSSIA LEVEL WITH FRANCE
Mikhail Youzhny proved Russia's hero on the first day of their Davis Cup quarter-final on Friday, battling to win a tough match against Frenchman Richard Gasquet which allowed them to end the day at 1-1.
The defending champions' day had got off to a shaky start when Paul-Henri Mathieu, ranked 56th in the world, upset world number four Nikolay Davydenko 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 7-5 to put France 1-0 ahead.
In Moscow's Luzhniki Arena, Youzhny and Gasquet were evenly matched on paper, at 17th and 15th respectively in the world rankings, and their closely fought match lasted four hours 48 minutes before the Russian triumphed 6-2, 6-3, 6-7, 5-7, 8-6.
Youzhny went two sets up but then looked to be in trouble when he needed treatment on his left thigh and shin after slipping.
With both players suffering from cramp, the rubber went into a fifth set where Gasquet's serve began to falter.
"It was a very difficult match, if not the most difficult match I've played," Gasquet said.
Though the Russians had choice of surface, Davydenko blamed a lack of practice on clay for his defeat.
Mathieu, picked by captain Guy Forget for his physical strength, recovered from a jittery first set to exasperate Davydenko by sending him all around the court.
Former champions Sweden and Germany were both sitting more comfortably at the end of day one after going 2-0 up against Argentina and Belgium respectively.
Sweden set out for revenge after a 5-0 whitewash by Argentina in the first round last year and acquitted themselves faultlessly on the first day, winning both opening singles.
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