BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — James Blake got off to a fast start in the first match of the United States' Davis Cup competition against Switzerland.

It didn't last.

Blake lost to Stanislas Wawrinka 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (3) on Friday, putting the favored U.S. in an early hole.

No. 16-ranked Wawrinka is easily the top-rated Swiss team member and has won all three of his matches against No. 13 Blake, though the first two had come on clay, the American's least favorite surface.

U.S. star Andy Roddick and Marco Chiudinelli faced off in the second match of the best-of-five series.

In other first-round series, Russia (over Romania), Argentina (over Netherlands) and Croatia (over Chile) took 2-0 leads. Tied 1-1 were Czech Republic-France and Germany-Austria.

Sweden and Israel were tied 1-1 in Malmo in an arena with no fans. Swedish organizers feared protests against Israel following the recent offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The start of the Spain-Serbia series in Benidorm, Spain, was postponed because strong wind compromised the stadium.

The winners advance to the World Group quarterfinals in July.

Blake had won six straight Davis Cup matches but he couldn't stop Wawrinka's rally.

"He served a lot better and my serve was erratic," Blake said. "He was doing a good job when I was making first serves of getting it back and putting it in play."

The Americans became sizable favorites when 13-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer dropped out with a back injury.

"It's going to be very difficult," Wawrinka said. "In the rankings, they are better, but I knew I needed to win the first match. It was very tough. It was a very important match for the rest of the weekend."

The U.S. sends out top-ranked doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan on Saturday against Wawrinka and Yves Allegro.

Blake survived a break point to take a 4-3 lead in the fourth set, but couldn't sustain the momentum. Wawrinka kept the American fans somewhat subdued with six straight points during the tiebreaker, including his 19th ace. Blake won the next two points but Wawrinka put him away by burying a forehand into the left corner.

Wawrinka won points off his second serve nearly two-thirds of the time.

"That's frustrating," Blake said. "When you get opportunities, when you get looks, you want to take advantage of those. That's going to be the biggest difference in matches like this when it hinges on one or two points."