Rafael Nadal brought defending Davis Cup champions Spain to the brink of victory for the loss of just three games Saturday - but the world number one was eclipsed by political protests which continued to mar the World Group match pitting Sweden against Israel.
While Nadal was serenity personified in swatting Serbias Janko Tipsarevic 6-1, 6-0, 6-2 to give the Spaniards a 2-0 first round lead in Benidorm a tense atmosphere in contrast hung over Malmoe, where more than 100 masked demonstrators clashed with Swedish police as they protested against the Swedes facing Israel.
Masked youths clad in black threw bottles of paint, stones and firecrackers at police in riot squad vans and on horseback, sending the horses into a panic, while the throng cheered one demonstrator who vandalised a police van. A police spokesman said five people were arrested after officers charged the gathering.
The violent demonstrators, whom authorities described as anarchists, were part of a larger, authorised demonstration organised by the Stop the Match network to protest against Israels recent offensive in Gaza. Police and organisers estimated the crowds at between 6,000 and 10,000. Citing security fears, Malmoe city council had ordered the three-day match played behind closed doors.
Rising above the hullabaloo outside the Baltiska Hallen, Simon Aspelin and Robert Lindstedt gave the hosts a 2-1 lead by ousting Amir Hadad and Andy Ram 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 in the doubles. Elsewhere, Croatia clinched victory over visitors Chile when Mario Ancic and Marin Cilic teamed up to see off Nicolas Massu and Paul Capdeville - their first day singles victims - 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Argentine were on the point of bagging their own berth in the last eight as Martin Vassallo Arguello and Lucas Arnold got off to a flier against Dutch doubles rivals Rogier Wassen and Huta Galung. Juan Ignacio Chela and Juan Monaco had put the South Americans, losing finalists last season, in the driving seat with singles victories on Friday.
Nine-times champions France were struggling after Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek defeated Richard Gasquet and Michael Llodra 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 to give the Czech Republic the upper hand at 2-1 in their meeting at Ostrava. Stepanek will meet Gilles Simon on Sunday in a bid to clinch the encounter and prevent the French from reaching their fifth straight quarter-final, where Argentina are set to provide the opposition. If Stepanek fails, it will fall to Berdych to negotiate a last-gasp win at the expense of in-form Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Russia, champions in 2002 and 2006, were leading Romania 2-1 after former world number one Marat Safin and Dmitry Tursunov lost the doubles rubber to Marius Copil and Horia Tecau while Germany and Austria were still locked at 1-1 Saturday afternoon in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Later, 32-time champions United States were hoping to get their noses in front against a Switzerland team playing without injured Roger Federer. Stanislas Wawrinka gave the Swiss the early advantage against James Blake before Andy Roddick levelled against Marco Chiudinelli.
GERMANY TAKE 2-1 LEAD Nicolas Kiefer steered Germany to a 2-1 lead over Austria in their Davis Cup world group first-round tie on Saturday when he partnered Philipp Kohlschreiber to a four-set win over Alexander Peya and Julian Knowle. The Germans, three times cup champions, won 6-3 7-6 3-6 6-4 in three hours 15 minutes to go into Sundays final day at Garmisch-Partenkirchens Eissportzentrum in the driving seat.
Kiefer, who returned to training only recently after suffering a double ligament rupture in January, showed no signs of lack of match practice, moving swiftly around the court. Kiefer and Kohlschreiber, a last-minute replacement for Christopher Kas, quickly broke Peyas first service game to go 2-0 up. After levelling, the Austrians fell another break behind when Knowle failed to hold his serve. The Germans wrapped up the set on their second set point.
Peya, a late replacement for Juergen Melzer, proved the weakest link in the second set when he was broken in the fifth game. Despite a double fault at 3-4 in the second set that gave the Austrians a break point, Kiefer hung on to his serve to level. The 31-year-old carried Germany into a tiebreak with some deft volleying and finished it with a difficult serve that allowed Kohlschreiber to put away a weak Knowle return and grab a two-set lead.
The Austrians pulled a set back but two consecutive easy volley misses by Knowle at 4-4 in the fourth set gave the Germans a break and allowed them to serve out for the match. Kohlschreiber had fought back from two sets down to beat Melzer in nearly four hours in Fridays singles, after Austrias Stefan Koubek, ranked 255th, had beat Rainer Schuettler, the world number 31, 6-4 7-5 5-7 6-2.