Bratislava, Sept 23: USA comes back to beat Slovakia in Davis Cup tie. Andy Roddick claimed his first Davis Cup clay court triumph with a 6-3 6-4 6-4 win over Karol Beck on Sunday (September 21), securing the U.S. a victory over Slovakia in their World Group playoff. The U.S. won the tie 3-2 after Slovak Martin Mertinak beat Mardy Fish 3-6 6-3 6-4 in the final dead singles. Roddick, who had lost his previous three Davis Cup matches on clay, atoned for his opening singles defeat at the hands of Dominik Hrbaty, powering down 17 aces to take his overall record in the team event to 8-3. "I was glad I could come out and get a win," a relieved Roddick said after the match. Beck, ranked 70th in the world, was a late substitution for Slovak number one Karol Kucera, who had a hamstring problem. Before Friday's defeat, Roddick had not lost since a Washington semi-final in August against Britain's Tim Henman. After that he racked up victories at the Canadian Masters, Cincinnati Masters and the U.S. Open.

An early break in each set dug the Slovak into a hole he could not climb out of and even when he finally managed to break Roddick for the first time in the match during the third set, the 21-year-old American broke right back.


Results (Slovak names first): Sunday's singles: Karol Beck lost to Andy Roddick 3-6 4-6 4-6 Michal Mertinak beat Mardy Fish 3-6 6-3 6-4 (best-of-three sets)


Saturday's doubles: Karol Beck/Dominik Hrbaty lost to Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan 1-6 4-6 6-7 (5-7)


Friday's singles: Dominik Hrbaty beat Andy Roddick 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-4 Karol Kucera lost to Mardy Fish 6-4


Bureau Report