Americans win in team tennis

DUSSELDORF, Germany, May 18 (UPI) -- The United States and the Czech Republic scored upset victories Sunday in opening round-robin action at the ATP World Team Championship, a final tuneup for next week's French Open.

The American squad bested Spain, 2-1, while the Czech Republic edged Australia by the same score.

Carlos Moya gave Spain the early lead with a 7-6 (7-2), 7-5 victory over American James Blake, but veteran Todd Martin surprised two-time Roland Garros finalist Alex Corretja, 6-3, 6-4.

The doubles team of Blake and Mardy Fish gave the United States the Red Group victory by beating Corretja and Fernando Vicente, 6-2, 7-6 (11-9).

Although he was coming off a third-round loss at Rome two weeks ago, Moya won his second title of the year at Barcelona last month. He claimed another claycourt event earlier in the year at Buenos Aires.

"I was very happy with my game today," Moya said. "It was a very tight match, but I made all the big points. It was important for me to win the first set, otherwise it would have been a much tougher match. I am very happy to spend this week in Dsseldorf where I can play for my country. Every single team is going to be tough to beat. I have to think of Spain in the final, but it's going to be very difficult."

Blake lost his third straight match and has six losses in his last 10 outings. He fell to 1-4 lifetime against Moya.

"I did not play quite as well today, but Carlos Moya is one of the world's best claycourt players," Blake said. "I still lack experience. I need to be more patient. There is also more pressure on me as people expect more from me as I am now more often seeded. I am going through a learning process and I am improving."

In another Red Group encounter, top-ranked Lleyton Hewitt put Australia out in front against the Czech Republic with a 6-3, 6-2 rout of Jiri Novak. But Radek Stepanek evened things with a 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 victory over Australian Wayne Arthurs before teaming up with Novak for a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Arthurs and Hewitt.

Hewitt has played only one ATP event since losing in the first round of Miami in March. He lost in the third round last week in Hamburg, his only claycourt tournament of year.

"I felt like I played pretty well out there," Hewitt said. "Jiri is a tough player, especially on clay. I am very happy with today's match, although I know that I can turn it up a notch as I have not quite adjusted to the clay court. Compared to Hamburg, I played much better today. But as I said, I must and can play even better."

The Blue Group gets underway on Monday with Germany taking on Chile and Argentina squaring off against Sweden.