Germany and the Slovak Republic are tied at 1-1 after the first day of play during their Davis Cup qualifying tie on hardcourt in the Slovak Republic.
Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty rode the wave of crowd support in a neat 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 romp over German Cup neophyte Florian "Oscar" Mayer, but German No. 1
Tommy Haas followed with a win, rebounding from a first set setback to triumph 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-1, 6-1.
Last year Germany was stunned by Belarus in the World Cup qualifier, plunging them into zonal play this year. The Slovaks are also looking to advance out of zonal play into the World group for 2005.
The Saturday doubles schedule is The Dominator and Karol Beck for the Slovaks against Haas and
Alexander Waske for Germany.
