Australia in trouble in Davis Cup

Kristof Vliegen: came back from 2-1 down to beat Hewitt

Australia and the United States are struggling to keep their Davis Cup hopes alive after the first day of the World Group first round ties.

Kristof Vliegen beat Lleyton Hewitt in five sets and Olivier Rochus then saw off Chris Guccione to give Belgium a 2-0 lead over Australia.

The Czech Republic and the USA are level at 1-1 in their tie.

Andy Roddick beat Ivo Minar 6-4 4-6 6-2 6-3, but Tomas Berdych hit back to beat James Blake 6-1 2-6 7-5 7-5.

Belgium's Vliegen was delighted after a gruelling battle of over four hours against Hewitt.

At one stage it was looking a bit dicey Andy Roddick

"This is a big victory for me. I was mixing my game well. On clay you can do that - hit balls from the back of the court, some serve-and-volley.

"Hewitt never knew what I would do. He plays the same steady game. If you do what he likes, you will lose for sure. I mixed it up and that helped me to win."

The United States could have been in as dire a situation as Australia, but a relieved Roddick held his nerve against world number 160 Minar.

WORLD GROUP 1st ROUND Chile 0-2 Russia France 2-0 Romania Germany 1-1 Croatia Belgium 2-0 Australia Czech Republic 1-1 USA Switzerland 1-1 Spain Belarus 0-2 Sweden Austria 0-2 Argentina

"At one stage it was looking a bit dicey. In the first two sets I thought he played very well.

"I was putting him into difficult positions and he was coming up with good shots."

Sebastien Grosjean battled back from two sets down to beat Romania's Andrei Pavel and give France a 2-0 lead on day one of their first-round tie.

Richard Gasquet had earlier given the hosts the first point with a straightforward 7-5 6-2 6-2 victory over Victor Hanescu.

Jose Acasuso beat Stefan Koubek 7-6 6-1 6-4 to give Argentina the first point against Austria.

Guillermo Canas then grabbed a second, overcoming Jurgen Melzer 7-6 6-2 6-4.

Thomas Johansson and Robin Soderling gave Sweden a commanding 2-0 lead in their first-round tie against Belarus.

Soderling beat Vladimir Voltchkov 6-3 7-6 6-1 to put the visitors ahead before Johansson outclassed Belarus number one Max Mirnyi 6-4 6-4 6-4 in the second rubber.

Germany and Croatia are also tied after Tommy Haas beat Mario Ancic 2-6 6-4 6-4 6-4, but Ivan Ljubicic beat Benjamin Becker 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 6-2 6-3.

Switzerland, missing world number one Roger Federer, were 1-1 with Spain, who lost Rafael Nadal to a muscle injury shortly before the first singles.

Defending champions Russia produced arguably the most impressive performance on the opening day by taking a 2-0 lead against Chile on the South Americans' home turf.

Marat Safin beat Nicolas Massu in straight sets and then Igor Andreev beat Fernando Gonzalez in four.