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 today’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.

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.