Bob Bryan and John Isner defeated Nenad Zimonjic and Janko Tipsarevic, 7-6 (8), 5-7, 7-6 (8), 6-3, in yesterday's doubles at Belgrade to keep the United States alive in the Davis Cup first round, cutting host Serbia's lead to 2-1.

Isner was a last-minute replacement for Bryan's twin Mike, who was sidelined with food poisoning. The Bryans are the top-ranked doubles team.

Isner, who made his Davis Cup debut on Friday, will try to even the series today when he plays second-ranked Novak Djokovic in the first reverse singles on an indoor clay court at Belgrade Arena. Sam Querrey is set to play the final singles match against Viktor Troicki.

"I'm a bit tired now, but it won't affect me too much tomorrow against Djokovic," said the 20th-ranked Isner. "I really have nothing to lose as he's the No. 2 player and not me."

ELSEWHERE

Iditarod: Hundreds of sled dogs and thousands of fans lined up along Anchorage's Fourth Avenue yesterday for the 11-mile ceremonial start of the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska. The actual competition starts today in Willow, about 50 miles to the north. Seventy-one teams are entered in the trek to Nome, with defending champion Lance Mackey seeking his fourth consecutive win.

Football: The Arizona Cardinals acquired safety Kerry Rhodes from the New York Jets yesterday for a fourth-round pick in this year's draft and a seventh-rounder in 2011. Rhodes is expected to move into the starting spot opposite All-Pro Adrian Wilson that was vacated when Antrel Rolle, a Pro Bowl selection last season, signed as a free agent with the New York Giants on Friday.

Auto racing: Kevin Harvick has won his third straight start in the NASCAR truck series, cruising to an easy victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga. He led 100 of 130 laps yesterday and pulled away to a 1.308-second victory over fellow Sprint Cup driver Kyle Busch.

Boxing: Devon Alexander (20-0, 13 knockouts) knocked out Juan Urango (22-3-1) with a right uppercut at 1:12 of the eighth round to unify the WBC and IBF light welterweight titles last night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

Gymnastics: Russia's Maxim Devyatovsky took advantage of U.S. champion Jonathan Horton's slip on parallel bars to win the American Cup at Worchester, Mass., the first international event of the gymnastics season. American Rebecca Bross dominated the women's competition as expected, finishing ahead of fellow American Alexandra Raisman.

Skiing: Lindsey Vonn won her third straight downhill title yesterday and tied Bode Miller for the most career World Cup victories by an American at 32. She defeated Johanna Schnarf of Italy by a mere 0.01 seconds, finishing the Nationale downhill course at Crans-Montana, Switzerland in 1 minute, 35.26 seconds.

Speedskating: Olympic gold medalist Shani Davis of the United States clinched his third straight speedskating World Cup overall title by winning his fifth 1,000-meter race of the season yesterday at Erfurt, Germany. Davis won the 1,000 in 1 minute, 9.29 seconds. Germany's Jenny Wolf captured the 47th World Cup victory of her career, winning the 500 in 38.08 seconds.