LONDON(AP) Argentina and Croatia eased into the Davis Cup quarterfinals on Saturday, the United States took a lead over Switzerland, and protests outside the venue in Sweden marred its match against Israel.
Sweden took a 2-1 lead against Israel by winning the doubles as police held off dozens of anti-Israel protesters who tried to storm the barricades outside the 4,000-seat Baltic Hall in Malmo. Demonstrators condemned Israel's recent offensive in Gaza and urged support for Palestinians.
In Birmingham, Ala., the top-ranked doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan gave the United States a 2-1 lead over Switzerland.
The Bryans beat Yves Allegro and Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2) to become the winningest U.S. Davis Cup doubles team with a 15-2 mark, passing John McEnroe/Peter Fleming and Wilmer Allison/John Van Ryn. The Bryans are 16-1 overall this year.
Andy Roddick will try to clinch the series against Wawrinka on Sunday and send the U.S. on to the quarterfinals against Croatia in July. James Blake takes on Marco Chiudinelli in the final match.
Spain led Serbia 2-1 after three matches were played Saturday because high wind wiped out play Friday in Benidorm. The Czech Republic also moved up 2-1 on France, Romania trimmed Russia's lead to 2-1 and Germany won the doubles for an advantage over Austria.
Argentina's Martin Vasallo Arguello and Lucas Arnold defeated Jesse Huta Galung and Rogier Wassen of the Netherlands 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 for an insurmountable 3-0 lead in Buenos Aires and a spot in the World Group for the ninth straight year.
After winning both singles Friday, Croatia's Mario Ancic and Marin Cilic teamed up to beat Chile's Nicolas Massu and Paul Capdeville 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 on home soil in Porec.
Spain's David Ferrer outplayed Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4), and top-ranked Rafael Nadal dropped only three games against Janko Tipsarevic for a 6-1, 6-0, 6-2 win.
Spain had the rare chance to win the match in one day, but Serbia's Nenad Zimonjic and Viktor Troicki scored a 7-6 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (7) doubles victory over Tommy Robredo and Feliciano Lopez.
Trailing by two sets, Romania's Marius Copil and Horia Tecau rallied to defeat Russia's Marat Safin and Dimitry Tusunov 4-6, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (4) 7-6 (5), 6-4.
Sweden edged ahead of Israel in a near-empty arena when Simon Aspelin and Robert Lindstedt defeated Andy Ram and Amir Hadad 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 after the team's split singles matches on Friday.
Only about 300 special guests watched the match because Malmo officials had closed the venue to the public, citing security risks.
At least six were arrested for rioting, Malmo police spokeswoman Ewa Westford said. There were no reports of injuries.
It was the second time a Davis Cup tie was played without fans in Sweden. In 1975, two years after a military coup in Chile led by Augusto Pinochet, Sweden played Chile in an empty stadium in Bastad.