The US won both of its opening singles to move within a victory of its first appearance in the Davis Cup final since 1997, while Spain stumbled Friday in trying to reach its third trip to the championship in five years.
Andy Roddick won in straight sets and Mardy Fish took only a little longer to give the Americans a 2-0 lead over Belarus, while Paul-Henri Mathieu, ranked 77th by the ATP, upset No. 6 Carlos Moya to put France ahead of Spain 1-0 on the first day of the semifinals in tennis' premier team competition.
In Charleston, South Carolina, Roddick got the US out to a fast start, pounding a record 249kph serve in his 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 win over Vladimir Voltchkov while Fish consolidated the lead with a 7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Max Mirnyi.
In Alicante, Spain, Mathieu shocked Moya 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 to put France ahead, and 12th-ranked Juan Carlos Ferrero tried to rally Spain, leading Fabrice Santoro, 6-3, 6-1, 1-6, 3-3 before darkness suspended the rest of the match until Saturday.
The winners of the weekend semifinals will meet Dec. 3-5 in the championship tie.
The US has won the most Davis Cup titles, 31, but none since 1995.
Besides the semifinals, eight playoff matches were determining the final half of next year's World Group.
Australia, Chile, Croatia, Romania and Russia all took 2-0 leads after the opening day, while Slovakia and Germany split their opening matches and Austria and Britain were rained out.
Paraguay and the Czech Republic also were playing in Lambare, Paraguay.
In Charleston, Roddick's serve in the final game of the match eclipsed his own record of 246kph set at the Queen's Club tournament in England in June. Even with the record speed, Voltchkov managed to get his racket on the ball but was unable to return it.
The crowd at the Family Circle Tennis Center stood and cheered when the record speed of the serve was shown.
"I hit a good one. That's about it," Roddick said. "I think it's fun for the fans. To me it's still a point. It's something I'll be able to tell people about one day. But I'm happier with the win -- serving well overall."
In Spain, Mathieu needed 4 1-2 hours for his first victory in Davis Cup to give France the lead. The match went back-and-forth. Mathieu won the final three games of the first set and broke Moya to open the second. Moya then took control to win the second and third sets, but committed several unforced errors to let Mathieu stay close.
Mathieu opened the fourth by breaking Moya's serve, and again in the sixth to even the match. Moya broke Mathieu to lead 2-0 in the final set and had game point to take a 3-0 lead, but Mathieu rallied, earning four break points before finally converting and going on to win five of the next six games.
"The opponent plays well, too," Moya said. "And I think he played a great game ... It was a match of ups and downs and in the end I was a little tired."
In Perth, Wayne Arthurs and Todd Woodbridge ensured Australia remains in the Davis Cup World Group for 2005, beating Morocco's Mehdi Tahiri and Mounir El Aarej 7-6 (7), 7-6 (2), 6-3 yesterday to take an unassailable 3-0 playoffs lead.
On Friday, Lleyton Hewitt broke a 56-year-old Australian Davis Cup record to help to give the home side a 2-0 lead over the injury-depleted Moroccans in the World Group qualifier.
Hewitt's 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 win over Tahiri on grass at Royal Kings Park was his 25th Davis Cup singles win, an Australian record in just his sixth year of Davis Cup play.
Arthurs, playing in his first opening singles match in more than two years, had given Australia a 1-0 lead with a 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-3 win Friday over Mounir El Aarej.
Morocco's two best players, Hicham Arazi and Younes El Aynaoui, are not in Perth due to injuries. The Australians are without Mark Philippoussis, their No. 2-ranked player, who has a hip injury.
The Moroccans were unable to convert any of their three set point opportunities in the opening tiebreaker of the doubles match.
The meaningless reverse singles will be played today, when Todd Reid is likely to get a start for Australia while Hewitt is rested.
Australia will now go into the draw for next year's 16-team World Group, while Morocco will have to go through zonal qualifying.
``It's pleasing and a bit of a relief,'' Australian captain John Fitzgerald said of his team remaining in the top group.
``We feel like we belong there and we don't want to take that backward step and go into the second division.''
In Rijeka, Croatia, Olympic doubles bronze medalists Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic won in straight sets to give Croatia a 2-0 lead over Belgium. Ljubicic overcame a sore back and rallied on key points to shut out Gilles Elsneer 7-6 (6), 7-5, 6-4, while Ancic dominated Olivier Rochus 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-1.
In Bucharest, Romania, Andrei Pavel converted five of eight break point chances and overpowered Simon Larose 7-5, 6-3, 6-2, while Victor Hanescu outlasted Frank Dancevic, 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to put Romania ahead of Canada.
In Moscow, Marat Safin and Igor Andreev scored straight-set victories to put Russia ahead of Thailand 2-0.
Andreev beat Paradorn Srichaphan 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 in the opening singles, and Safin fired 10 aces on his way to down Danai Udomchoke 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.
In Bratislava, Slovakia, Dominik Hrbaty beat Davis Cup rookie Florian Mayer 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 to give Slovakia the early edge, but Tommy Haas recovered from a first-set loss to beat Karol Beck, 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-1, 6-1, and even the tie at 1-1.
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