1 Germany and Russia secured places in the second round of the 1995 Davis Cup Saturday, while defending champion Sweden avoided elimination by winning its doubles match against Denmark.
2 Sweden, after losing both singles matches on Friday, rallied behind Jan Apell and Jonas Bjorkman, who lost the first set before posting a 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Kenneth Carlsen and Morten Christensen.
3 Denmark, without a player ranked in the top 200, can still pull off the upset if either Carlsen beats two-time Wimbledon champion Stefan Edberg or Frederik Fetterlein plays Bjorkman in Sunday's reverse singles on the indoor carpet at Copenhagen.
4 The last defending champion nation to lose in the first round was the United States, eliminated by Australia after winning the title in 1992.
5 Russia, last year's runner-up, raced to an insurmountable 3-0 lead over Belgium at Antwerp, with Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Andrey Olhovskiy beating Libor Pimek and Filip Dewulf 2-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-3.
6 At Karlsruhe, Germany, Boris Becker and Michael Stich put aside their personal rivalry to give Germany a 3-0 lead over Croatia.
7 The two German stars, who have openly feuded off the court, proved too strong for Goran Ivanisevic and Sasa Hirszon in a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 victory.
8 Croatia, making its World Group debut, had pinned its hopes of an upset against Germany on Ivanisevic, the left-hander whose powerful serve has carried him to the world No. 5 ranking.
9 But the Germans pounced on Ivanisevic's cannonball serve at key moments, breaking him at 5-4 to claim the first set.
10 Becker and Stich teamed up to win a gold medal in doubles at the 1992 Olympics, but Becker's appearance in Friday's singles was the first time he has played Davis Cup since Germany's 1992 win against Belgium. His reluctance to play has been the source of the latest feud with Stich.
11 'There's a lot of competition between the two of us -- no question,' said Stich, who had threatened to quit Davis Cup play if Becker tried to join the team after skipping the early rounds. 'But we're just a good doubles team.'
12 Elsewhere, play finally got underway in Durban, South Africa, where Friday's singles had to be postponed because a rain leak made a specially-prepared court unplayable.
13 On Saturday, it was crushing humidity and a stomach virus that took their toll on Australia as the teams split the opening singles.
14 Wayne Ferreira, the world No. 11 singles player and anchor of the South African team, beat doubles ace Mark Woodforde in straight, hard-fought sets, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 and 6-3.
15 Woodforde, half of the formidable 'Woodies' pair with Todd Woodbridge, was rushed into the match when Richard Fromberg fell ill with a stomach virus.
16 In the other match, Patrick Rafter, Australia's top singles planer, wilted in the humidity of the Indian Ocean city but still saw off Marcos Ondruska, 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in 2 hours, 49 minutes.
17 But the exhausted Rafter had to be treated for dehydration afterward and it was unclear what kind of shape he would be in for a reverse singles match against Ferreira.
18 The doubles will be played Sunday, followed by the reverse singles.
19 Elsewhere in the World Group, Italy took a 2-1 lead over the Czech Republic, as did Austria over Spain, the Netherlands over Switzerland and the United States over France.
20 On clay at Geneva, Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis, the top doubles pair in the world, defeated Switzerland's Jakob Hlasek and Lorenzo Manta 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.
21 The Swiss pair had never played together before, even in practice. Manta, making his Davis Cup debut and ranked No. 458 in the world, stepped in for Swiss No. 1 Marc Rosset, who broke his right foot in his match Friday and will be sidelined for up to three months.
22 On hard court at Vienna, Thomas Muster and Alex Antonitsch beat Spanish duo Sergi Bruguera and Emilio Sanchez 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
23 Bruguera, ranked No. 4 in the world, proved a weak partner for Sanchez, an experienced doubles player who has won many doubles titles with currently injured partner Sergio Casal.
24 'Today we had two singles players and two doubles players on court,' said Muster, also a singles specialist. 'Alex played better than Sanchez, and I played better than Bruguera. So we won.'
25 On clay at Naples, Italians Stefano Pescosolido and Cristian Brandi defeated Cyril Suk and Martin Damm 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-2).
26 On the indoor carpet at St. Petersburg, Florida, Richey Reneberg and Jared Palmer rejoined a week after their Australian Open title victory for a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win in doubles over Guy Forget and Oliver Delaitre.
27 The victory puts France on the defensive with Guy Forget scheduled to play his third match in as many days Sunday to open the reverse singles against Todd Martin.
28 Jim Courier, who trounced Forget in straight sets Friday, will face Pioline in Sunday's other singles match.

Denmark , without a player ranked in the top 200 , can still pull off the upset if either Carlsen beats two - time Wimbledon champion Stefan Edberg or Frederik Fetterlein plays Bjorkman in Sunday ' s reverse singles on the indoor carpet at Copenhagen .
pull off the upset if either
How would the outcome of two singles matches influence the outcome from a doubles match?