CARSON, Calif. — The United States remains in a Davis Cup slump.
Ivan Ljubicic beat Andy Roddick in a taut, five-set marathon Sunday to give Croatia an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the opening-round Davis Cup matches.
Playing iron man for his country, Ljubicic outlasted Roddick 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (11), 6-7 (7), 6-2 in a match that lasted almost 4 hours.
The one remaining singles match became essentially an exhibition since Croatia had clinched the round. Andre Agassi was scheduled to play Mario Ancic, but doubles specialist Bob Bryan subbed for the United States.
The 25-year-old Ljubicic began the round with a straight-set win over Agassi, then teamed with Ancic to hand Bryan and his twin brother, Mike, their first Davis Cup loss in six matches.
FRANCE 3, SWEDEN 2: At Strasbourg, France, Paul-Henri Mathieu blew three match points before finally outlasting gritty Thomas Johansson 6-1, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-4 of Sweden to clinch the victory for France.
RUSSIA 4, CHILE 1: At Moscow, Australian Open champion Marat Safin beat Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-7 (3), 6-4 to send Russia into the quarterfinals.
ROMANIA 3, BELARUS 2: At Brasov, Romania, Victor Hanescu beat Vladimir Voltchkov 7-6 (2), 6-4, 7-6 (6) to put Romania into the quarterfinals.
ARGENTINA 5, CZECH REPUBLIC 0: At Buenos Aires, Argentina, Agustin Calleri and Guillermo Coria easily won to help Argentina sweep the Czech Republic.
AUSTRALIA 5, AUSTRIA 0: At Sydney, Australia, Todd Woodbridge and Chris Guccione both won singles matches to complete a sweep for the home team.
NETHERLANDS 3, SWITZERLAND 2: At Fribourg, Switzerland, Sjeng Schalken defeated Stanislas Wawrinka 1-6, 6-2, 6-4, 2-6, 9-7 to move the Netherlands into the quarterfinals.
SLOVAKIA 4, SPAIN 1: At Bratislava, Slovakia, Fernando Verdasco beat Kamil Capkovic 6-2, 6-2 to earn a point for defending champion Spain, which was eliminated the day before by Slovakia.