BRATISLAVA, Slovakia -- Mardy Fish salvaged the opening day for the United States at the Davis Cup, winning his singles match against Slovakia following a loss by U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick.

With the score 1-1 in the World Group playoff, the Americans are in good shape in the best-of-five series as they try to stay in the top tier of team tennis competition.

Fish defeated Karol Kucera 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-1 on the clay court before a sellout crowd in Slovakia's new National Tennis Center. His victory came after Roddick was beaten by Dominik Hrbaty 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

"Roddick was not playing very well,'' Hrbaty said. "He didn't play his best. But he's only a man of flesh and blood.''

The Americans will be favored in Saturday's doubles with brothers Mike and Bob Bryan -- the world's No. 1-ranked team -- taking on Karol Beck and Michal Mertinak. The Bryans won the French Open this year on clay. Reverse singles are Sunday.

The Americans have won the Davis Cup a record 31 times but will be relegated to the second level of the Cup if they fail to beat Slovakia. The Americans last played in the second tier 15 years ago.

In the Davis Cup semifinals Friday, Spain led Argentina 2-0 in Malaga and Australia and Switzerland were tied 1-1 in Melbourne.

Roddick admitted he put "undue pressure'' on his teammate. But Fish came through, getting a big hug from his teammates -- especially Roddick -- as he left the court.

The 3-hour, 55-minute match swung in the second set when the match was delayed 30 minutes by a power failure that blackened the arena. When the lights returned, Fish dominated.

The power outage came in the 11th game of the set at the fourth deuce with Fish trying to hold serve. Fish won the next two points when the lights returned and then broke Kucera in the 12th game.

"It was good to get those first two serves in and get the game and momentum on my side,'' Fish said. "Even though I was down a set I felt I was definitely in the match.''

In the third set, Kucera was up a break at 5-4 and serving for the set, but he failed to close out Fish. Fish held his serve in the 11th game and broke Kucera in the 12th. A dispirited Kucera was no problem for Fish in the next set.

Roddick's loss ended his 19-match winning streak -- all on hard courts and all in North America. It was also his third straight Davis Cup loss on clay.

"I hate the fact I have lost my last three Davis Cup matches,'' he said. "It eats at me. Hopefully if we get to Sunday with a shot I can try my best then.''

Hrbaty sank to his knees after the victory. He tossed the ball high into the stands and then broke into tears as he circled the clay court draped in the red, white and blue Slovak flag.

"When I started to return his service, that was the key,'' Hrbaty said. "I hope we will show the Americans where the small nation of Slovakia is.''

Roddick often seemed bothered by the crowd noise and his poor play also hurt his serve. He had 15 aces, but seven came in the first set.

"I was having to stop and start and really didn't get a groove on my serve,'' he said.

Roddick rolled in the first set. But Hrbaty -- ranked 60th to Roddick's No. 2 -- got back into the match with excellent returns. He drove Roddick to the far corners of the slippery court, forcing the American into uncharacteristic errors.

Hrbaty recovered in the second set. The Slovak, known as a streaky player, began hitting accurate groundstrokes as Roddick's game turned erratic. Roddick managed only one ace in the second and 14 in the match. Hrbaty finished with seven.

Hrbaty kept Roddick in a funk in the third set, returning the American's powerful serves while drawing on excellent net play. Hrbaty broke Roddick twice in the fourth set. The Slovak needed five match points to close the match.

The Americans have lost their last two Davis Cup matches -- one short of the record of three straight in 1986-87. The last loss was in Croatia in February.

The United States has also lost three straight matches on the road since Patrick McEnroe became captain in 2001 and four straight overall. Brother John McEnroe was captain for the other away loss.

In other playoffs, it was: Austria 2, Belgium 0; Morocco 2, Britain 0; the Netherlands 2, India 0; Belarus 1, Germany 1; and Thailand 1, Czech Republic 1.