Spain 1, Switzerland 1

Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka dealt defending Davis Cup Champion Spain an early blow as he gave the visitors a 1-0 lead with a battling 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Nicolas Almagro on clay in Logrono on Friday. Four-time former champion Spain has won its past 20 consecutive Davis Cup ties on clay, and is undefeated in 18 straight ties on home soil.

Wawrinka twice came from behind to record an epic victory in just one minute shy of four hours. The Lausanne native, who recently celebrated the birth of his first child with wife, Ilham, also trailed by a break of serve in the final set before hitting back to win five of the last six games to clinch his 11th Davis Cup singles win.

Switzerland, whose best Davis Cup performance was a runner-up finish in 1992 (l. to U.S.A.), is bidding to win a World Group match for the first time since 2004.

David Ferrer, who last week won the ATP World Tour 500 title in Acapulco, brought Spain back on level terms with a confident 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-1 win over Marco Chiudinelli. 

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France 2, Germany 0

ATP World Tour No. 15 Gael Monfils recorded his first Davis Cup victory on Friday in Toulon as he and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga gave nine-time champion France a 2-0 lead over visiting Germany.

The Paris native, who made his Davis Cup debut with a four-set loss to Dutch Thiemo De Bakker in France’s World Group Play-off tie last September, struck 71 winners and converted five of 14 break points to secure a 6-1, 6-4, 7-6(5) victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber in two hours and 45 minutes.

“Today I felt the ball very good,” Monfils said. “It was one of my best matches of the season, I’m very happy with the way I moved on the court and the way I controlled the match, and of course very happy to bring the point for France for the first time.”

No. 11-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga then opened up a commanding lead for the hosts as he edged Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-3 in two hours and 46 minutes, extending his unbeaten record in Davis Cup singles play to 6-0. France is looking to avoid a repeat of the first-round defeat it suffered to Czech Republic last year and needs just one more point from the remaining three rubbers to win the tie. 

Belgium 0, Czech Republic 2

Tomas Berdych produced a strong start for 2009 runner-up Czech Republic as he comfortably dismissed Belgium’s Olivier Rochus 6-3, 6-0, 6-4 in two hours and 21 minutes on indoor clay on Friday. The 24 year old struck 11 aces and hit 49 winners in comparison to Rochus’ 16 as he improved to a 3-2 record over the diminutive Belgian.

"It was quite a good performance," said Berdych. "Every chance I got I just took it. He had nothing to lose, and I'm pretty happy I was able to finish it the way I did."

World No. 25 Berdych played a pivotal role in taking Czech Republic to its first Davis Cup final since 1980 last year and has made a solid start to his 2010 individual campaign, coming into the tie on the strength of two quarter-final showings at the SAP Open (l. to Roddick) and the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships (l. to Gulbis).

Radek Stepanek later gave the visitors a 2-0 overnight lead in Bree when he defeated Xavier Malisse 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(3) in two hours and 16 minutes. The Czechs now just need to win one of the three remaining rubbers over the course of the weekend to secure a place in the quarter-finals for the third straight year.

Russia 2, India 0

Russia took a commanding 2-0 lead over India in Moscow on Friday, with singles wins for Igor Kunitsyn and Mikhail Youzhny. Kunitsyn, who learnt only an hour before play that he would replace the injured Igor Andreev, rallied from the loss of the first set to defeat Somdev Devvarman 6-7(6), 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-4 in three hours and 35 minutes.

“It was a surprise for me and there is no way you can prepare yourself with just an hour to go before your match,” said Kunitsyn. “It was an exciting match,” added the Russian. “It’s the first time I ever opened a Davis Cup tie for Russia, the first time I ever played a live singles match, it was a day of firsts for me.”

World No. 13 Youzhny, who was part of Russia’s 2002 winning team, extended the host nation’s lead with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Rohan Bopanna in one hour and 43 minutes.