Davis Cup champions Croatia won the battle of the heavyweights at the Rochusclub in Duesseldorf on Monday, beating the United States 2-1 in the Blue Group of the ARAG ATP World Team Championship.

Ivan Ljubicic and Ivo Karlovic secured the winning point in the doubles rubber with a 6-3, 7-6(5) win over Bob and Mike Bryan, currently ranked No. 1 in the Stanford ATP Doubles Race.

Earlier in the day Ljubicic had got Croatia off to a fantastic start, as the No. 5 in the INDESIT ATP Rankings continued extended his career-winning streak over American James Blake to four matches.

Ljubicic struggled for consistency in the first set, but played his �best match on clay� of the year in testing conditions at the Rochusclub to beat Blake 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(4).

�It was a fantastic match against James Blake,� said Ljubicic afterwards.

�I possibly played my best match on clay this year. I think I deserved to win. A victory is a victory. I am particularly pleased to have achieved it in clay.

Blake, this year�s winner of ATP singles titles in Sydney and Las Vegas, complimented his opponent by saying: �Ljubicic is one of the best players in the world. He has a very good service, but is also a good defensive player.

�I am quite happy with myself. I am currently improving on clay.�

Blake�s best clay-court result of 2006 came last week at ATP Masters Series Hamburg where he lost to Ljubicic�s Croatian compatriot Mario Ancic in the third round.

Robby Ginepri beat Croatia�s Karlovic to get the U.S. back on level terms in a 6-4, 7-6(1) win in 69 minutes.

While the pair had never played each other in an ATP match, 27-year-old Karlovic had beaten the American at a Challenger event on a hard court five years ago.

At 1-1 the stage was set for a thrilling finale. Ljubicic and Karlovic combined for victory in one hour and 21 minutes.