France, Switzerland and Britain enjoyed perfect starts to their Davis Cup World Group first round ties as Czech Republic made a stuttering start to their three-peat bid.
Roger Federer and newly crowned Australian Open winner Stanislas Wawrinka on Friday put the Swiss 2-0 up in Serbia to leave last year's beaten finalists on the brink of an early elimination.
Australia too were heading for the Davis Cup exit after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet were on target for France.
Wimbledon champion Andy Murray and James Ward won their opening singles matches in San Diego as Great Britain pushed the United States to the brink on the opening day.
In Ostrava, the Czechs were left facing an uphill battle when the Netherlands' Robin Haase saw off Radek Stepanek 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 6-1.
Jean-Sebastien Evrard, AFP
France's Richard Gasquet returns the ball to Australia's Nick Kyrgios during the Davis Cup first round tennis match on January 31, 2014 at The Vendespace in Mouilleron-le-Captif, western France
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But Tomas Berdych cruised past Igor Sijsling 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 to draw the 2012 and 2013 champions back level ahead of Saturday's doubles.
"I didn't know much about him... I tried to attack him a lot," said Berdych, a semi-finalist at the Australian Open where he lost to eventual champion Wawrinka.
Elsewhere five-time winners Spain, missing Rafael Nadal, were up against it trailing 2-0 to Germany in Frankfurt, Argentina were level 1-1 with Italy in Mar del Plata, Kazakhstan led Belgium 2-0 in Astana, and Japan and Canada were all square in Tokyo.
In San Diego, world number six Murray set the tone for Great Britain with a dominant 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 defeat of Donald Young.
Sam Querrey seemed poised to get the hosts back on terms before Ward -- down two sets and trailing 2-4 in the fourth -- roared back to win 1-6, 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Ward won 10 of the last 11 games, belting seven aces and 53 winners in the three-hour, 11-minute match on a clay court at Petco Park, home of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres.
Michal Cizek, AFP
Robin Haase of the Netherlands celebrates after defeating Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic in a first round Davis Cup match at the Cez Arena on January 31, 2014 in Ostrava
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"I started reading him a little bit better," Ward said. "He was going to my backhand a lot on the first serve so I started to stand back a little bit further to give myself more time."
On the clay in Mouilleron-le-Captif, France were sitting pretty after Gasquet beat Aussie teenager Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (7/3), 6-2, 6-2, before Tsonga ousted Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7/2).
World number 10 Tsonga had defeated Hewitt, ranked 41, in all their three previous ties and won through in one hour and 51 minutes to give Arnaud Clement's men the chance to finish off the tie in the doubles on Saturday.
"It was the perfect match. I was walking on water for two sets," said Tsonga.
Federer, a last-minute addition to the Swiss team, won through 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 against 268th-ranked Ilija Bozoljac on the hard court surface in Novi Sad.
Daniel Roland, AFP
Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany returns a ball to Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain during a Davis Cup match in Frankfurt/Main, Germany on January 31, 2014
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The Swiss, bouyed with two Grand Slam winners in their ranks, are favourites with Serbia weakened by the absence of star turns Novak Djokovic and Janko Tipsarevic.
Tired from his exploits in the heat of Melbourne, Wawrinka nevertheless stepped up to battle past 102nd ranked Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (9/7).
"It was a tough match and it wasn’t easy for me to come here after the last few weeks," Wawrinka said. "I didn’t really have enough time to get ready as I was exhausted both mentally and physically, but I was determined to fight and win the match."
In Frankfurt, Philipp Kohlschreiber gave Germany a winning start over Spain with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 victory in less than two hours against Roberto Bautista Agut.
Toru Yamanaka, AFP
Kei Nishikori of Japan returns a shot against Peter Polansky of Canada in their men's singles tennis match during the Davis Cup World Group first round tie in Tokyo on January 31, 2014
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Spain's 26th-ranked Feliciano Lopez then fell 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/4), 1-6, 5-7, 6-3 to Florian Mayer, ranked 29, in their second rubber.
The Spanish are playing without their stars - world number one Nadal and fifth-ranked David Ferrer.
In Mar del Plata, Carlos Berlocq put hosts Argentina ahead by beating Italy's Andreas Seppi 4-6, 6-0, 6-2, 6-1.
But Italy drew level when Fabio Fognini defeated Juan Monaco 7-5, 6-2, 6-2.
In Tokyo, Japanese number one Kei Nishikori beat Canada's Peter Polansky 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 before Frank Dancevic levelled with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/2), 6-1 win over Go Soeda.
hollywoodtone.blogspot.com Swiss stroll, Czechs level in Davis Cup