Terrible Clay Court Fails to Stall U.S.

Roddick has been questioning the quality of the court all week and his tight victory over Melzer did not improve his opinion.

Davis Cup holders the United States looked in danger of stalling on a hastily-laid indoor Austrian clay court described by Andy Roddick as "terrible" before hauling themselves out of trouble on Friday.

World number six Roddick grumbled his way through a testing five-setter 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-7 6-3 against Juergen Melzer in the opening rubber to get the holders off to a winning, if faltering, start to their title defence.

James Blake looked to have an even tougher task against Austrian number one Stefan Koubek, especially after losing the first set, but conjured up some sublime tennis to eventually come through 5-7 7-5 6-2 6-2.

That left the holders looking comfortable with a 2-0 lead after day one of their first-round World Group tie on a court that repeatedly levelled the gap in talent with a string of comically poor bounces.

The top-ranked Bryan brothers are heavily favoured to make their class count on Saturday in the doubles to complete the job for a team that won the first Davis Cup title for the U.S. in 12 years with a 4-1 final victory over Russia in December.

In all, the U.S. have a record 32 Davis Cup titles.

Roddick has been questioning the quality of the court all week and his tight victory over Melzer in four hours six minutes did not improve his opinion.

'THE WORST' "It was terrible but at least it was terrible for both sides," Roddick told a news conference. "Is it the worst I've played in the Davis Cup? Absolutely."

The court was only put in place at the start of this week and Roddick believes that did not give the Americans enough time to get used to it.

"I'm not sure why they were granted special permission by the ITF (International Tennis Federation) to do this. I tried asking the referee and didn't get an answer. I don't know who I should ask next."

The 57th-ranked Melzer had not previously won a set against the American in six attempts but a break at the start of the fifth left him briefly with a glimpse of probably the biggest win of his career.

Roddick, though, had an extra gear and his heavier weight of shot plus a howitzer serve -- he hit 21 aces to Melzer's seven -- eventually steered him to victory.

World number 12 Blake took time to find his feet and early on looked in serious trouble against Koubek, who is ranked 43 places behind him and is in the twilight of his career at 31 years old.

The American, however, slowly but surely imposed his will with superior consistency and some improbable winners on the run.