BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Jose Acasuso made his Davis Cup debut by
upsetting 13th-ranked Thomas Johansson in three sets Friday as
Argentina won both opening singles to lead Sweden 2-0 in their first-
round World Group tie.

Acasuso needed only 80 minutes to beat Johansson 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 on
the outdoor clay at Parque Roca stadium a crowd of 9,000, giving
Argentina control after David Nalbandian won the opening singles
over Robin Soderling 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-1.

"I'm very happy to have such a debut. I didn't expect it to be so
easy, but the key was to be focused and play on Johansson's faults,"
the 33rd-ranked Acasuso said after a packed homecrowd thundered with
a standing ovation.

Johansson, who looked bewildered at times, lauded Acasuso after his
a phenomenal day.

"I would be surprised if any player in the world would have beat
Acasuso the way he played today," Johansson said. "If he continues
like that, he should have an excellent year."

Acasuso allowed Johansson to hold his serve only once in the first
set, and broke the Swede four times in the second set.

After Acasuso led 3-0 in the third set, the match was more even but
stayed on serve until the Argentine prevailed.

In the earlier match, Nalbandian neede exactly twice as much time as
Acasuso -- 2 hours and 45 minutes exactly -- to subdue Soderling.

Soderling won the first game at love, then broke the Argentine in
the eighth game for a 5-3 lead.

Nalbandian recovered in the second set, leading 3-2 before breaking
the Swede twice to even the match.

In what amounted to a baseline duel, the third set opened with five
straight service breaks until Soderling held for a 4-2 lead. But
Nalbandian then held before earning two more service breaks to win
the set.

Nalbandian claimed the fourth by running Soderling all over the
court.

Although Nalbandian improved his Davis Cup record to 13-2, he said
he didn't expect such a fight from Soderling.

"I was surprised how well he played, with strong shots," he said. "I
think I won because I moved around a lot and it seemed to work as he
lowered his level of play in the fourth set."

Soderling acknowledged the clay courts made damp by an overnight
rain were a factor even if he felt he played well in only his second
Davis Cup outing.

"Clay is not my best surface and to win, I would have had to serve
better, which is not really the strong part of my game," he
said. "For me the court was also very slow but I tried my best."

Saturday's doubles match teams Argentines Nalbandian and Agustin
Calleri against Jonas Bjorkman and Simon Aspelin, ahead of Sunday's
reverse singles.

The winner of the tie faces the victor of Croatia-Austria in the
next round.

AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service