Buenos Aires, Argentina (SportsNetwork.com) - South American rivals Argentina and Brazil split Friday's opening singles matches in their best-of-five Davis Cup matchup in Buenos Aires.
Joao Souza gave the visitors a 1-0 lead by outlasting Argentine Carlos Berlocq 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 on the red clay at Tecnopolis. The Day 1 nightcap then saw Leonardo Mayer top Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 to level the showdown.
Saturday will feature a doubles match, while Sunday's reverse singles will pit Mayer against Souza and Berlocq versus Bellucci.
Argentina is 5-2 all-time versus Brazil in Davis Cup play.
The winner of this opening-round tie will face the Croatia-Serbia victor in a quarterfinal in July.
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