Andy Roddick helped the United States to level with Switzerland in their Davis Cup World Group tie on Friday as he pushed aside Marco Chiudinelli 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).

The visitors took the lead in the best-of-five match tie after Stanislaus Wawrinka defeated James Blake 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) in the opening singles match. Swiss world number two Roger Federer was absent from the roster.

The Bryan twins combine in doubles against Switzerland's Wawrinka and Yves Allegro on Saturday.

Roddick ripped through the first two sets and lost only two points through the eighth game of the third.

But Chiudinelli, ranked 341st in the world, took it into a tiebreaker before Roddick finally snatched the win in just over two hours.

(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2009)