Underdogs France and the Czech Republic have taken 2-0 leads in their Davis Cup quarterfinals, while the other two ties are at 1-1 after the opening singles.
FRA - ESP 2-0: Despite missing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet, the French team delighted the home crowds by pulling out two close matches against Spain, also missing its top player in Rafael Nadal. Gael Monfils staved off David Ferrer 7-6 (3), 6-2, 4-6, 5-7, 6-4 in the opening singles, and Michael Llodra wriggled past Fernando Verdasco 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (2) on the fast indoor court.
CHI - CZE 0-2: The Czech Republic is another under-manned team -- neither Tomas Berdych or Radek Stepanek, who together took the Czechs all the way to last year's final, is taking part in this tie. But their substitutes came through on the opening day against Chile on clay, with Ivo Minar cruising past Nicolas Massu 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 and Jan Hajek losing even fewer games in defeating Paul Capdeville 6-0, 6-2, 6-1.
CRO - SRB 1-1: The most hotly anticipated tie of the quarterfinals saw both teams end the day level after Novak Djokovic took down Ivan Ljubicic 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-1 and Marin Cilic evened the score for the Croatians by defeating Viktor Troicki 6-4, 7-5, 6-2. As expected, the partisan crowd in the Croatian city of Split produced a rauccous atmosphere for the first-ever Davis Cup meeting beween the two Balkan nations. The Serbs had earlier voiced concerns about Split hosting the tie, fearing that things could get more heated than in a larger city like Zagreb.
There was no violence, but anti-Serb jeers were heard from the stands. "It was strange to see guys, the crowd, whistling on Serbian anthem and the players and so loud on ours," the Davis Cup website quoted Ljubicic as saying. "You could feel the emotion so it was really difficult for me to play the first couple of games."
"It’s sensitive circumstances that we play in," Djokovic said. "We had expected the heated atmosphere before we came here, but I'm sorry that some fans behaved the way they did at the start of the match... in the end I got a nice appreciation from the crowd for what I have done today, so this is what I remember from the match."
RUS - ARG 1-1: Davis Cup crusader David Nalbandian returned from three-month injury layoff with a 6-4, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6) victory over Nikolay Davydenko, who also returned recently from a four-month injury break. But Mikhail Youzhny put the Russians back on even terms by defeating Leonardo Mayer 6-3, 6-1, 6-4. Argentina is missing its top player, Juan Martin del Potro, as well as Juan Monaco—both sidelined after wrist injuries.
The teams will each contest the doubles on Saturday.