Llodra is ranked 35th in the world

France opened up a surprise 2-0 lead over champions Spain after the opening day of their Davis Cup quarter-final.

Michael Llodra beat Fernando Verdasco 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) after Gael Monfils prevailed 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, 4-6, 5-7, 6-4 against David Ferrer.

The Spanish now face an uphill task to turn the tie around in Saturday's doubles and Sunday's reverse singles.

The Czech Republic lead Chile 2-0, while the Croatia v Serbia and Russia v Argentina ties are all-square at 1-1.

Playing on a lightning fast indoor court at Clermont-Ferrand, Monfils got France's bid to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2004 off to a morale-boosting start in a see-saw encounter with clay-court specialist Ferrer.

After opening a two-set lead, Monfils saw world number 12 Ferrer claw his way back to two sets apiece.

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And when Monfils failed to serve out the match at 5-3 in the fifth, it seemed like the momentum had swung back in the Spaniard's favour.

However, Monfils, ranked 17th in the world, regained his nerve in the next game to break back and put his country 1-0 up.

"I felt strong," said Monfils. "In the fifth set I just told myself that if I could cut out the little errors then it would happen."

Serve-and-volleyer Llodra's victory over Verdasco, a player ranked 25 places above him in the world, came as more of a shock result.

Verdasco saved two break points before taking the first-set tie-breaker 7-5.

But 30-year-old Llodra took control at the net to claim the next two sets before two straight aces in the fourth-set tie-breaker helped him put France 2-0 up and loosen Spain's two-year grip on the cup.

Both countries are without their top-ranked players - Spain's world number one Rafael Nadal is resting after winning Wimbledon on Sunday, and France are minus world number 11 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who is suffering from a knee injury.

Minar recorded his first win in a Davis Cup rubber

In Coquimbo, the Czechs are in control of their tie after Ivo Minar, ranked 247 in the world, produced a major upset when hammering Chilean number one Nicolas Massu 6-0, 6-2, 6-3.

"This loss hurts, particularly playing for your country," said Massu, who committed 51 unforced errors.

"But unfortunately, you win sometimes and other times you lose."

Jan Hajek followed suit to thrash Paul Capdeville 6-0, 6-2, 6-1.

It is honours even between Croatia and Serbia in Split - the first Davis Cup meeting between the two former Yugoslav republics.

World number two Novak Djokovic gave the visitors the advantage with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 6-1 over Ivan Ljubicic who came out of Davis Cup retirement as cover for the injured Ivo Karlovic.

Marin Cilic squared the tie thanks to a 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 win over Viktor Troicki.

In Moscow, David Nalbandian ground out a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6) win over world number six Nikolay Davydenko to put Argentina in front.

However, Mikhail Youzhny was too strong for Leonardo Mayer, easing to a 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 triumph to level matters.

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