POREC, Croatia — Marin Cilic outlasted Mardy Fish in five sets to give Croatia a 2-0 lead over the United States after the opening singles of their Davis Cup quarterfinal yesterday.

Cilic beat Fish 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-1, 8-6 in a match that lasted 4 hours, 23 minutes.

Much earlier, Ivo Karlovic pounded 47 aces and rallied from two sets down to beat James Blake 6-7 (5), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 7-5 on an indoor clay court.

"His serve is probably the best on the tour," Blake said. "When he hits his spots, there is nothing we can do about it."

The best-of-five series resumes today with doubles and concludes with reverse singles tomorrow. The world's No. 2 doubles team, the Bryan twins, will represent the U.S.

"If we win doubles, as expected, we certainly have a chance" for an overall victory, U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe said.

The U.S., a 32-time champion, has lost to Croatia the two previous times they met in Davis Cup — in 2002 and in 2005 when Croatia won the competition. The U.S., the 2007 champion, is bidding to reach the semifinals for the fourth straight year. The winner will face the Czech Republic or Argentina in the semifinals in September.

The U.S. was playing without Andy Roddick, who withdrew because of a hip injury after losing an epic five-set final to Roger Federer at Wimbledon on Sunday.

In yesterday's other quarterfinals, Israel took a surprising 2-0 lead at home against Russia; Germany and host Spain were tied 1-1; and Argentina was even at 1-1 at the Czech Republic.

HALL OF FAME

Santoro rolls along: Two-time defending champion Fabrice Santoro continued his dominance at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships yesterday, winning two matches to advance to the semifinals at Newport, R.I.

Santoro, 36, the oldest singles player on the ATP tour, will face third-seeded Sam Querrey, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over seventh-seeded fellow American Kevin Kim, after today's induction ceremonies on center court. Monica Seles highlights the 2009 class.

After rallying to beat hard-hitting American Taylor Dent 7-6 (5), 6-4 earlier, Santoro beat fellow countryman and doubles partner Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 6-4.

BUDAPEST GP

Homecourt advantage: Fourth-seeded Agnes Szavay of Hungary defeated qualifier Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 6-2, 6-3 yesterday to reach the semifinals of the Budapest Grand Prix at Budapest, Hungary.

Szavay will next face sixth-seeded Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine, who trailed 5-1 against Shahar Peer of Israel before winning 10 games in a row for a 7-5, 6-1 win.

Edina Gallovits of Romania advanced by beating Petra Martic of Croatia 6-3, 7-6 (6), while the quarterfinal between top-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland and fifth-seeded Alisa Kleybanova of Russia was suspended because of rain with Schnyder leading 4-3 in the first set.

SWEDISH OPEN

Wozniacki gains final: Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki beat Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 yesterday to reach the Swedish Open final for the first time at Bastad, Sweden.

Wozniacki, who turns 19 today, will play unseeded Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in today's final, after she defeated Gisela Dulko 7-5, 6-4 in the other semifinal.