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DUESSELDORF, Germany -- The United States beat the Czech Republic 2-1 at the World Team Cup on Monday despite losing the top-ranked doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan to an undisclosed injury.
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The Bryan brothers were replaced by James Blake and Wayne Odesnik, who rallied to defeat Tomas Berdych and Pavel Vizner 0-6, 7-5, 10-8. Blake and Odesnik had split their singles matches in the Red Group on Sunday, with Blake losing to Berdych and Odesnik beating Ivo Minar.
Andy Roddick also withdrew after the shoulder injury that forced his retirement in the Rome Masters semifinals flared again after several days of practice. The sixth-ranked American will miss the French Open, but expects to begin his grass-court campaign at Queens in his traditional warmup for Wimbledon.
Also in the Red Group, Juan Ignacio Chela, part of the winning Argentina team in 2007, swept aside Sweden's Thomas Johansson 6-2, 6-1 to level the tie after Robin Soderling had defeated Guillermo Canas on Sunday. In the doubles, Robert Lindstedt and Robin Soderling overcame Lucas Arnold and Sebastian Prieto 7-5, 6-2 to give Sweden a 2-1 victory.
In the Blue Group, Germany was dealt a blow when in-form Nicolas Kiefer was replaced by Denis Gremelmayr, who lost 6-4, 6-3 to Feliciano Lopez of Spain. Kiefer, a Hamburg quarterfinalist last week after upsetting fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko, has a cold. But Germany won the tie 2-1 when Christopher Kas and Philipp Petzschner defeated Marcel Granollers and Feliciano Lopez 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 10-5.
Russia won the Blue Group tie against Italy 2-1 despite Igor Andreev and Dmitry Tursunov losing the doubles 6-4, 6-4 to Simone Bolelli and Potito Starace. Russia won both singles matches Sunday.
Eight teams are split into two groups, and in a new format for 2008, each tie consisting of two singles matches and a doubles is played over two days, ensuring each team competes every day during the round-robin period. The winner of each group will contest Saturday's final.
Tuesday and Wednesday, the United States will face Argentina and Sweden will play the Czech Republic in the Red Group. In the Blue Group, Germany will play Italy and Russia takes on Spain.
