Wawrinka stuns holders

Spain suffer early defeat; Russia and France edge ahead

Wawrinka: Impressive win

Defending Davis Cup champions Spain suffered the worst possible start to their title defence with defeat in the first rubber of their World Group tie against Switzerland.

Neither world number one Roger Federer nor great rival Rafael Nadal are on duty for their respective nations, so the tie began with a clash between the world numbers 40 and 19.

And it was the higher-ranked player, Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka, who came out on top in a marathon encounter in Logrono, beating Nicolas Almagro 3-6 6-4 3-6 7-5 6-3.

It was an impressive effort from Wawrinka, who had not played a competitive match in six weeks following the birth of his daughter.

Elsewhere, Russia stormed into a 2-0 lead after the first day's singles matches to move on the brink of victory against India in Moscow.

First, Igor Kunitsyn came from a set down to beat Somdev Devvarman 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 6-4.

"It was an exciting match," Kunitsyn, ranked 107, told www.daviscup.com.

Class

"It's the first time I ever opened a Davis Cup tie for Russia, the first time I ever played a live singles match, it was a day of firsts for me."

Mikhail Youzhny then showed his class in a 6-4 6-2 6-3 demolition of Rohan Bopanna.

The Czech Republic also lead 2-0 after Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek romped to straight-sets victories over Belgian duo Olivier Rochus and Xavier Malisse respectively.

Another appetising encounter, between France and Germany, saw Gael Monfils secure his first ever Davis Cup victory with a convincing 6-1 6-4 7-6 (7-5) win over Philipp Kohlschreiber.

It was then left up to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to extend France's lead to 2-0, which he did, courtesy of a 6-3 6-2 6-7 (2-7) triumph over Benjamin Becker

Life was tougher for big-serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic, though, who needed three hours and 45 minutes to overcome Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti 6-2 5-7 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 6-4 in Varazdin.