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Davis Cup semis end level after day one

Sweden and Germany rallied on Friday to ensure their Davis Cup semi-final matches will be decided on the final day.

Thomas Johansson beat James Blake to put Sweden even at 1-1 in their best-of-five series against the visiting US, and Philipp Kohlschreiber did the same for Germany against the defending champions by defeating fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko.

In the Davis Cup playoffs, Roger Federer earned a point for Switzerland in the Czech Republic, Novak Djokovic did the same for Serbia against Australia, and Tim Henman won what could be his final competitive singles match to help Britain take a 2-0 lead over Croatia.

The US took a 1-0 lead when Andy Roddick beat Joachim Johansson 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-3 in Goteborg. But Thomas Johansson pulled a point back by defeating Blake 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Russia got their first point in the opening match, with Igor Andreev beating Tommy Haas 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. Kohlschreiber then gave the Germans a point by defeating Davydenko 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.

Roddick broke Joachim Johansson for the only time in the match to lead 4-3 in the third set. The American, who finished with 30 aces, then held at love for the 11th time to close out the match. Johansson had 23 aces.

"Joachim played very, very aggressive," Roddick said. "It was tough to read his serve. I started to do better on his second at least. On the first I could only try to lean either way."

Thomas Johansson broke Blake's serve on his second break point to lead 3-1 in the fourth set. That was all he needed, holding his serve the rest of the way.

Davydenko had a chance to lead 5-2 in the third set but he wasted three break points. After holding serve in that game, Kohlschreiber broke the Russian in the next to get back to 4-4.

Federer beat Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5) with a spot in next year's World Group on the line.

Tomas Berdych made it 1-1 for the Czechs by beating Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6 (2), 6-4, 7-5.

Djokovic easily beat Peter Luczak 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 to give Serbia the lead, but former top-ranked player Lleyton Hewitt put Australia back in the series by beating Janko Tipsarevic 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1.

Djokovic, who reached the US Open final earlier this month, broke Luczak twice and lost only two points on his serve in the first set.

"I must admit that I was more nervous today then when I played the US Open final," Djokovic said, who had 16 aces in the match. "Playing in front of my family, friends and such a crowd is something completely different."

Playing at Wimbledon one last time before retirement, Henman beat Roko Karanusic 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in the second singles match.

In the first match at the All England Club, Andy Murray defeated 108th-ranked Marin Cilic 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

In the other playoffs, it was: Austria 2, Brazil 0; Israel 2, Chile 1; Japan 1, Romania 1; Slovakia 1, South Korea 1; and Peru 1, Belarus 0.
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