LONDON, Feb 10: The Bryan brothers produced a ruthless doubles masterclass on Saturday to propel Davis Cup holders United States into a quarter-final showdown with France.

Twins Bob and Mike Bryan did not seem to be troubled by the hastily laid indoor claycourt, which team mate Andy Roddick had lambasted as “terrible”, and dispatched Austria’s Juergen Melzer and Julian Knowle in just 89 minutes.

The world number ones lived up to their billing as they outclassed the Austrian duo 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 to give the Americans an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the world group first-round tie.

France also wrapped up their tie against Romania in the Transylvanian town of Sibiu with a day to spare.

But unlike the swift victory enjoyed by the Bryans, Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra laboured for more than four hours before wearing down Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 3-6, 6-2.

Argentina, the Czech Republic and Spain also booked their places in the last eight by opening up 3-0 leads but must wait another 24 hours to discover the identity of their next opponents.

The Czechs, who will face Russia or Serbia, ended Belgium’s hopes of progressing after Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek fought tooth-and-nail to carve out an exhausting 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 win over Olivier Rochus and Kristof Vliegen in Ostrava.

Britain’s worst nightmare became a reality in Buenos Aires when they failed to win even a set in their first three matches against Argentina.

Back in the world group after a four-year absence, the tie on red clay was always going to be a tall order for a British team without their top player Andy Murray.

Doubles specialist Jamie Murray and Ross Hutchins ran out of puff after losing the second set tiebreak 13-11 to David Nalbandian and Jose Acasuso.

A rain break with Argentina leading 2-0 in the third set did little to stop the rot and Nalbandian and Acasuso ended Britain’s torment with a 6-2, 7-6, 6-0 victory.

Next up for the Argentines will be Israel or Sweden.

Israel nosed 2-1 in front of the seven-times champions after Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich secured a 6-3, 7-6, 7-5 doubles win over Simon Aspelin and Robert Lindstedt.

After being relegated to a cheerleading role on Friday, an ailing Novak Djokovic was back on familiar territory.

The Australian Open champion could do little to prevent Serbia from going 2-0 down against Russia after he was sidelined with flu-like symptoms.

On Saturday, he came to the rescue by teaming up with Nenad Zimonjic to nudge past Mikhail Youzhny and Dmitry Tursunov 6-3, 7-6, 7-6, keeping alive Serbia’s chances of pulling off a near impossible comeback against the 2006 champions.

Germany will be confident of reaching the quarter-finals after Philipp Kohlschreiber and Philipp Petzschner made short work of South Korea’s An Jae-sung and Jun Woong-sun to win 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 and give their team a 2-1 lead.

The winners in Braunschweig will face Spain, who completed a 3-0 victory over Peru in Lima when Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco beat Luis Horna and Ivan Miranda 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 in the doubles.

Results of World Group ties:

At Moscow: Russia lead Serbia 2-1 (Novak Djokovic/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) bt Mikhail Youzhny/Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) 6-3, 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7-5); Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) bt Viktor Troicki (SRB) 6-1, 1-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2; Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) bt Zimonjic 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4).

At Ostrava: Czech Republic lead Belgium 3-0 (Tomas Berdych/Radek Stepanek bt Olivier Rochus/Kristof Vliegen 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (8-6), 7-5, 5-7, 6-4; Berdych bt Vliegen 6-3, 6-1, 6-4; Stepanek bt Steve Darcis 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5).

At Buenos Aires: Argentina lead Great Britain 3-0 (Jose Acasuso/David Nalbandian bt Ross Hutchins/Jamie Murray 6-2, 7-6 (13-11), 6-0; Nalbandian bt Jamie Baker 6-1, 6-3, 6-3; Agustin Calleri bt Alex Bogdanovic 6-3, 6-1, 6-1).

At Ramat Hasharon (Israel): Israel lead Sweden 2-1 (Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram (ISR) bt Simon Aspelin/Robert Lindstedt (SWE) 6-3, 7-6, 7-5; Dudi Sela (ISR) bt Jonas

Bjorkman (SWE) 7-6 (10-8), 6-3, 6-1; Thomas Johansson (SWE) bt Harel Levy (ISR) 6-1, 6-1, 6-3.

At Braunschweig (Germany): Germany lead South Korea 2-1 (Philip Kohlschreiber/Philipp Petzschner bt Jun Woong-Sun/An Jae-Sung 6-1, 6-3, 6-3; Kohlschreiber bt An Jae-Sung 6-2, 6-2, 6-2; Lee Hyung-Taik bt Florian Mayer 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3).

At Lima: Spain lead Peru 3-0 (Feliciano Lopez/Fernando Verdasco bt Luis Horna/Ivan Miranda 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4); Nicolas Almagro bt Matias Silva 6-3, 7-5, 6-0; Tommy Robredo bt Miranda 6-2, 6-3, 6-3).

At Sibiu (Romania): France lead Romania 3-0 (Arnaud Clement/Mickael Llodra bt Florent Mergea/Horia Tecau 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 3-6, 6-2; Richard Gasquet bt Victor Hanescu 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 7-5; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga bt Andrei Pavel 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4At Vienna: US lead Austria 3-0 (Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan bt Julian Knowle/Jurgen Melzer 6-1, 6-4, 6-2; Andy Roddick bt Melzer 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3; James Blake bt Stefan Koubek 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2).—Agencies