Croatia Leads Austria, 2-0

Mario Ancic beat Jurgen Melzer, 6-7 (2), 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, and Ivan Ljubicic beat Stefan Koubek, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4, Friday as Croatia began defense of its Davis Cup title by taking a 2-0 lead over Austria at Graz, Austria.

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Max Mirnyi and Vladimir Voltchkov gave Belarus a 2-0 lead over two-time champion Spain in Minsk. Mirnyi defeated Tommy Robredo, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3, and Voltchkov beat David Ferrer, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

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Russia took a 2-0 lead over the Netherlands in Amsterdam. Dmitry Tursunov defeated Raemon Sluiter, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5), and Nikolay Davydenko beat Melle van Gemerden 7-6 (6), 7-5, 6-4.

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In other first-round matches:

Jose Acasuso and David Nalbandian gave Argentina a 2-0 lead over Sweden in Buenos Aires. ... Richard Gasquet and Sebastien Grosjean gave France a 2-0 lead over Germany in Halle, Germany. ... Switzerland, without top-ranked Roger Federer, and Australia were tied, 1-1, in Geneva. ... Fernando Gonzalez gave Chile at 1-0 lead over Slovakia at Rancagua, Chile.