26 September 2004	Sunday	10 Shaban 1425

LONDON, Sept 25: Andy Roddick cracked a 155mph (249kph) delivery, two mph quicker than his own fastest serve record, to help push the U.S. into a 2-0 lead over Belarus in their Davis Cup semifinal on Friday.

An inspired display by Paul-Henri Mathieu also put France 1-0 up against Spain in a semi-final disrupted by bad light in Alicante.

World number two Roddick overwhelmed Vladimir Voltchkov 6-1 6-4 6-4 in the opening match between the U.S. and Belarus before Olympic silver medallist Mardy Fish followed up by defeating Max Mirnyi 7-5 6-2 3-6 6-3.

The U.S. can claim the tie with victory in Saturday's doubles encounter or either of the two reverse singles in Charleston, South Carolina. Roddick broke his own serve record in the final game against Voltchkov and then closed the match with his 17th ace.

"I hit a good one," Roddick, who bowed to the crowd, said of the record-breaker.

"It's fun for the fans. For me, it's still a point. It is something I will be able to tell people one day," he told reporters. "But I'm happier about the win and serving well overall."

That was especially true in the opening set when Roddick lost only one point on serve.

"I've practised many big times with another big server but nothing like this," said Voltchkov.

Voltchkov, who has a sprained left wrist, had not played since the August Olympics and admitted he was rusty.

The U.S. are bidding to make their first Davis Cup final in seven years. Belarus have never advanced this far. In Alicante, France were clinging on to hopes of a 2-0 lead when bad light forced Juan Carlos Ferrero and Fabrice Santoro off the court in the fourth set of the second rubber.

Guy Forget's side were leading 1-0 after Mathieu's shock 6-3 3-6 2-6 6-3 6-3 victory over Carlos Moya.

Spain were left to rue failing to make home advantage count.

"We were convinced we would be going home tonight with a 2-0 lead," Moya said. "We're still the favourites to win this tie, though."

Mathieu, ranked 71 places below Moya and playing on the Spaniard's favourite claycourt surface, came back from 2-0 down in the final set to lead 4-3.

He saved two break points to move 5-3 ahead and broke Moya again in the final game to complete an unlikely win in four hours 29 minutes at Alicante's bullring, with the vast majority of the 10,000 crowd cheering for the Spaniard.

Ferrero looked set to level the scores when he tore through the first two sets against Santoro 6-3 6-1.

The Frenchman hit back to take the third, however, and with the scores level at 3-3 in the fourth, Ferrero still faced a tough battle to level the tie.

Ferrero and Santoro will resume on Saturday morning, with the doubles, scheduled to be Santoro and Michael Llodra against Tommy Robredo and Rafael Nadal, to follow.

In the World Group playoff ties, 2003 champions Australia ensured they would not suffer a repeat of their first-round humiliation when they took a commanding 2-0 lead over a second-string Moroccan side.

Russia, winners in 2002, Croatia and Romania also grabbed the opening-day honours by taking both points against their respective opponents.

The weather played havoc with Austria's contest against Britain as torrential rain and thunderstorms prevented a ball being struck at Portschach.

Australia's hold on the Davis Cup lasted 10 weeks after they were dumped out of this year's event by Sweden but a rampant Lleyton Hewitt trounced Morocco's Mehdi Tahiri 6-0 6-2 6-2 to become his country's most successful Davis Cup singles player.

Hewitt's 25th singles victory in the men's premier team event allowed him to eclipse the mark he shared with Adrian Quist, who established his run in the 1930s and 1940s.

Having climbed back to third in the rankings after reaching this month's U.S. Open final, Hewitt seemed certain to establish the record after Morocco's two best players, Hicham Arazi and Younes El Aynaoui, pulled out because of injury.

The 507th-ranked Tahiri was unable to mount a serious challenge and surrendered in less than 90 minutes.

Marat Safin, who captured his first ATP crown in almost two years last week in Beijing, continued his winning form and trampled all over Danai Udomchoke 6-4 6-1 6-2 to give Russia a 2-0 advantage over Thailand.

Igor Andreev overwhelmed Thai number one Paradorn Srichaphan 7-5 6-2 6-4 in the opening singles rubber to put the home side ahead in Moscow.

Germany and Slovakia shared the early honours in Bratislava with their tie level at 1-1.-Reuters