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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 10:51 a.m., Sunday, March 8, 2009

Tennis: Roddick sweeps U.S. to Davis Cup win

By JOHN ZENOR
AP Sports Writer

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Andy Roddick again closed out a victory for the United States Davis Cup team.

The No. 6-ranked Roddick swept past Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka to give the U.S. an opening round victory in the best-of-five series with his second straight-set win in a row Sunday. He is now 11-0 with a chance to close out a Davis Cup series.

This one was emphatic: 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Next up for the U.S. is Croatia in the quarterfinals on July 10-12.

Roddick's 31st Davis Cup win moved him past Andre Agassi into second place on the U.S. list, 10 behind John McEnroe. Dominating with his serve, he faced only one break point during the match and had 14 aces.

The U.S. has won 20 consecutive matches after taking a 2-1 lead. The Americans didn't have to contend with an absent Roger Federer in this one, since the Swiss star was out with back problems.

James Blake and Marco Chiudinelli were to meet in the final match with the series already decided.

Roddick now has a 21-2 match record at home in the Davis Cup, including nine straight wins. He also breezed by Chiudinelli on Friday.

Mike Bryan had guaranteed a Roddick win after his doubles victory a day earlier, and his teammate never gave him cause to doubt the prediction. Roddick took control when he broke Wawrinka's serve for a 4-3 lead in the opening set.

Roddick was down 0-30 in the final game before winning the last four points to complete the sweep. The American foursome then took a celebratory jog with the flag around the court for the 15,118 fans.

Wawrinka, ranked No. 16, has lost each of his three matches with the Swiss trailing 1-2 and trying to stay alive.

In other first-round series, Israel, Czech Republic, Russia, Germany and Spain won Sunday to reach the quarterfinals. Croatia and Argentina advanced Saturday.

Israel made the quarters for the first time since 1987, winning both singles matches to oust seven-time champion Sweden 3-2 in Malmo. Harel Levy beat Andreas Vinciguerra 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 8-6 in a series overshadowed by political protests and played in a nearly empty arena. Earlier, Dudi Sela evened the score by edging Thomas Johansson 3-6, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Only about 300 guests were allowed to watch because city officials said they couldn't guarantee security. On Saturday, rock-throwing protesters bent on stopping play clashed with police in an attempt to storm the arena.

The U.S. will visit Croatia, a 3-0 winner over Chile. Croatia has won both previous series with the U.S. and is the only nation with a winning record against the Americans.