Tennis Roundup : Sweden Starts Fast in Davis Cup

Anders Jarryd and Stefan Edberg each took straight-set victories Friday to give defending champion Sweden a 2-0 lead over New Zealand, and challenger Australia got off to a good start when Wimbledon champion Pat Cash struggled to beat Mexico’s Leonardo Lavalle in first-round Davis Cup competition.

But Syria had the easiest time of all in this weekend flurry of Davis Cup activity. It won by forfeit when Saudi Arabia failed to show up to play. There was no immediate explanation from Saudi officials.

For Sweden, Davis Cup competition continued to be a breeze. Playing at home in the town of Gavle, Jarryd defeated Bruce Derlin, 14-12, 6-2, 6-4, and Edberg topped Kelly Evernden, 12-10, 6-2, 9-7.

Jarryd needed more than three hours to beat the 202nd-ranked Derlin. Against Edberg, Evernden faltered late in the match when he twisted an ankle at 5-5 in the third set. After a 10-minute break for treatment, he resumed play but could not rally to win.

Cash, playing on a clay surface that is not his best, beat Lavalle, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, 11-9, to give Australia a 1-0 edge in Mexico City. The second Australia-Mexico match was suspended because of darkness.

In other Davis Cup action:

--Michael Tauson and Morten Christensen won to give Denmark a surprising 2-0 lead over Spain. Tauson, ranked No. 311 in the world, defeated Sergio Casal, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. Christensen, No. 300 in the world, then rallied from two sets down to outlast Spain’s No. 1 player, Emilio Sanchez, 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

--India, last season’s finalist, tied Yugoslavia, 1-1. Slobodan Zivojinovic of Yugoslavia downed Ramesh Krishnan, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, but Krishnan’s teammate, Vijay Amritraj, beat Bruno Oresar, 6-3, 6-0, 6-3.

--Italy took a 2-0 lead over Israel. Francesco Cancellotti defeated Gilad Bloom, 6-1, 6-2, 6-8, 6-4, and Paolo Cane edged Amos Mansdorf, 7-5, 6-3, 6-2.

--West Germany won both opening singles matches against Brazil, with two-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker beating Cassio Mott, 6-0, 6-2, 6-0, and Carl-Uwe Steeb defeating Luiz Mattar, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3.

--Chile’s Ricardo Acuna and Hans Gildemeister beat Peru’s Jaime Izaga and Carlos Di Laura, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, in doubles to preserve Chile’s hopes of advancing. Peru easily won both singles matches Thursday and leads the best-of-five series 2-1.

--Ecuador’s No. 1 player, Andres Gomez, defeated Canada’s Chris Prijham, 7-5, 6-1, 6-4. The second match was halted by darkness.

--Yannick Noah outlasted Roland Stadler, 10-8, 9-11, 6-1, 7-5, to give France a 1-0 lead over Switzerland. The second singles match, between France’s Henri Leconte and Switzerland’s Claudio Mezzadri, was halted by darkness, after nearly three hours, tied at 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, 6-8.

--Czechoslovakia led Paraguay, 2-0, with victories by Petr Korda over Hugo Chapacu, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2, and Miloslav Mecir over Francisco Gonzales, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.