Argentina peg Sweden back in Davis Cup slugfest

By Adam Cox

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Argentina's Leonardo Mayer aced his way past Joachim Johansson 5-7 6-3 7-5 6-4 to level the Davis Cup first-round tie after world number seven Robin Soderling had given Sweden a 1-0 lead earlier on Friday.

Johansson, a former top-10 player, served 19 aces but was undone by world number 73 Mayer who hammered 28 of his own.

"He served well but I served better," Mayer said through an interpreter.

Johansson, now ranked 373rd in the world, looked as if he might pull off an upset when he pounced on a loose service game from Mayer before closing out the first set with an ace.

Mayer though proved too solid, outperforming the Swede in most departments.

In the opening contest Soderling overcame a mid-match wobble to beat Eduardo Schwank 6-1 7-6 7-5.

"I feel good," said Soderling who will play alongside Robert Lindstedt in Saturday's doubles. "It's a straight-sets win and I have to be happy with that."

BOOMING SERVE

Relying on his booming serve and powerful groundstrokes, Soderling downed his 64th-ranked opponent in two hours 30 minutes, blasting 17 aces.

He played a near-flawless first set, dominating from the baseline and never facing a break point.

The tenacious Schwank fought back in the second as he started to read Soderling's serve.

Twice Soderling broke only for Schwank to break back. In the tiebreak the Swede found his form with an error-free display to take it 7-0.

"He was serving a little bit better than I expected and he was hitting the ball pretty hard," said Soderling. "After the first set he started to mix up his game with some serve and volleys."

Argentina are without fifth-ranked Juan Martin del Potro due to a wrist injury as well as world number 30 Juan Monaco.

They can, however, call on former world number three David Nalbandian who joined the team at the last minute after recovering from a leg injury.

(Editing by Tony Jimenez)