India seal doubles win

India's victory has denied America an early victory

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi defeated their American doubles opponents 6-4 1-6 6-3 7-6 to keep India's hopes of a Davis Cup comeback alive.

The French Open champions beat Jared Palmer and Don Johnson at the Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseumon Saturday to pull the tie back to 2-1.

The United States must win one of the two reverse singles matches on Sunday to clinch the tie and remain in the World Group for 2002.

Paes and Bhupathi were nearly perfect on serve, making it difficult for Palmer and Johnson, the reigning Wimbledon champions to gain a lead.

In Friday's singles, Andy Roddick beat India's Harsh Mankad 6-3 6-4 6-1 and James Blake saw off Paes 7-5 6-3 6-3.

Despite dropping the doubles, the Americans can take comfort in the fact that they have only lost three ties (1939, 1960 and 1994) in the history of Davis Cup competition after taking a 2-0 lead.

The US was forced into the qualifying tie after losing to Switzerland in a first-round tie earlier this year.