The United States' quest to regain the Davis Cup will have to wait yet another year following a historic defeat by Croatia.

The Europeans completed a stunning first-round upset as Ivan Ljubicic defeated Andy Roddick 4-6 6-3 7-6 (13/11) 6-7 (7/9) 6-2 in the deciding match that lasted nearly four hours.

Ljubicic's win gave Croatia an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five tie, rendering meaningless the final encounter in which Bob Bryan beat Roko Karaunusic 6-2 3-6 6-1.

"I realise it's a great effort," said Ljubicic, who hit 70 winners. "I have no words really. I played a great match."

The defeat marked the first time the United States have lost a first-round match at home in the history of the Davis Cup, which dates back to 1900.

Roddick, who had been 5-1 lifetime against Ljubicic, lost on native soil for the first time in 14 Davis Cup matches.

"It's tough to describe," Roddick said. "It feels really, really bad. There's no worse feeling than losing a match in Davis Cup in our sport, especially when your team-mates are counting on you.

"If it's for you, you can call yourself a whatever, but it's just on you. In this situation, there's so many people that you're playing for and that like you've let down."

The USA were hot favourites to go through, fielding the 'Dream Team' of Andre Agassi, Roddick and world number one doubles duo the Bryan twins - Bob and Mike.

But with Ljubicic leading the charge, the Croats turned it into a nightmare weekend for the majority of the 18,760 fans at the Home Depot Center.

Croatia will now meet Romania in the quarter-finals in July, while the US face a relegation play-off to remain in the 16-team World Group for 2006.

Ljubicic has been the hottest player on the ATP this year, although he has come up short in all four final appearances, losing three times to world number one Roger Federer.

Andrei Pavel and Victor Hanescu both won their singles clashes on the final day to hand the Romanians a 3-2 win against Belarus.

Pavel beat Max Mirnyi 6-1 7-6 (7/0) 4-6 6-3 while Hanescu took the decider against Vladimir Voltchkov 7-6 (7/2) 6-4 7-6 (8/6).

Paul-Henri Mathieu clinched a thrilling four-set win against Thomas Johansson in the decisive rubber as France beat Sweden to move into the last eight.

Mathieu won 6-1 6-4 6-7 (4/7) 6-4 to hand France a clash with Russia in the quarter-finals.

Mathieu squandered two match points at 5-4 in the third set, and when Johansson won the tie-break, and took the lead in the fourth set, the Strasbourg crowd started to fear the worst.

But the Frenchman hit back, and after Johansson saved a third match point at 5-4 in the fourth set, Mathieu took it on the fourth.

Earlier, Joachim Johansson beat Sebastien Grosjean 3-6 6-1 6-4 6-1 to level the tie at 2-2.

Marat Safin's defeat of Chile's Fernando Gonzalez ensured Russia advanced.

The Australian Open champion won a marathon clash 7-6 (7/4) 7-6 (7/5) 1-6 6-7 (3/7) 6-4.

Nikolay Davydenko crushed Paul Capdeville 6-2 6-1 to seal a 4-1 triumph for the hosts.

Roger Federer's decision to skip Switzerland's tie against the Netherlands proved crucial as the hosts were unable to stave off a 3-2 defeat.

Federer opted to sit out the Fribourg clash in order to preserve his world number one ranking and the Netherlands took full advantage.

Heading into Sunday 2-1 up, the visitors sealed the tie when Sjeng Schalken beat Stanislaw Wawrinka 1-6 6-2 6-4 2-6 9-7.

Marco Chiudinelli won the dead rubber when Peter Wessels retired after losing the first set 6-4 but it mattered little.

The Netherlands will now face Slovakia in the quarter-finals after their surprise 4-1 thrashing of defending champions Spain.

Sunday's matches were shared with wins for Michal Mertinak and Fernando Verdasco.

Australia wrapped up a 5-0 win over Austria in Sydney by winning both of Sunday's dead rubbers.

Todd Woodbridge saw off Marco Mirnegg 6-3 4-6 7-5 while Chris Guccione dispatched Alexander Peya 6-3 6-4.

Argentina were also 5-0 winners after their comprehensive defeat of the Czech Republic.

Guillermo Coria and Agustin Calleri both won the reverse singles to seal the rout.

Coria overcame Jan Hernych 6-3 6-0 while Calleri was a 6-2 6-4 winner against Tomas Zib.