Serbia well up on U.S. in Davis Cup

BELGRADE, Serbia, March 5 (UPI) -- World No. 2 Novak Djokovic was a four-set winner Friday, giving Serbia a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five Davis Cup series against the United States.

Djokovic overcame a mid-match letdown in a 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 6-3 win over Sam Querrey. That came after Viktor Troicki took a tight 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 6-4 decision from American John Isner.

The losses put the pressure on Americans Bob and Mike Bryan, the No. 1 doubles team in the world and who are 16-2 in Davis Cup play. They must win Saturday against Serbs Janko Tipsarevic and Nenad Zimonjic for Sunday's reverse singles to have meaning.

Djokovic will go against Isner and Troicki meets Querrey in those singles matches.

Troicki and Isner split the 294 points in the match nearly evenly (149-145) but Troicki managed four service breaks to two by Isner. One of those breaks put Isner up 5-3 in the first set but Troicki broke back. Isner also missed chances in the third set to pull ahead.

Djokovic had no problem in the first set but Querrey failed to convert four set points in the second set and Djokovic was lackadaisical in the third set but in the fourth set he didn't face a break point in finishing off the win.

The Serbia-United States winners will play either Croatia or Ecuador in July's Davis Cup quarterfinals. Croatia is up 2-0 in that first-round series.