Sport in Short: Tennis

THE United States, the Davis Cup holders, made a humiliating exit from this year's competition when Australia took an unbeatable 3-0 lead after the doubles in their first-round meeting in Melbourne. They became the first defending champions to go out in the opening round for 10 years when Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge beat Jim Grabb and Richey Reneberg in five sets in 3hr 20min.

DAVIS CUP WORLD GROUP First round: (Vienna) France hold winning 3-0 lead over Austria (G forget and H Leconte bt H Skoff and A Antonitsch 7-5 6-4 7-5). (Calcutta) India lead Switzerland 2-1 (L Paes and R Krishnan bt J Hlasek and M Rosset 6-7 7-6 7-5 2-6 6-3). (Moscow): Germany hold winning 3-0 lead over Russia (M Stich and P Kuhnen bt A Cherkasov and A Olkhovsky 6-4 6-2 6-2). (Kalmar) Sweden hold winning 3-0 lead over Cuba (A Jarryd and H Holm bt M Tabares and J Pino 6-3 6-2 6-4). (Melbourne) Australia hold winning 3-0 lead over the United States (M Woodforde and T Woodbridge bt J Grabb and R Reneburg 7-6 6-2 3-6 6-7 6-4). (Aarhus) Czechoslovakia hold winning 3-0 lead over Denmark (P Korda and C Suk bt K Carlsen and M Christensen 4-6 7-6 6-2 6-2. (Barcelona) Spain lead Netherlands 2-1 (E Sanchez and S Casal bt P Haarhuis and J Eltingh 6-3 6-4 5-7 7-5). (Modena) Italy hold winning 3-0 lead over Brazil (O Camporese and D Nargiso bt L Mattar and F Roese 7-6 3-6 4-6 6-3 10-8).

DAVIS CUP EURO / AFRICAN ZONE Group One first round: (Budapest) Hungary lead Finland 2-1. (Oslo) Zimbabwe lead Norway 2-1. (Luxembourg) Luxembourg lead Kenya 2-1.

DAVIS CUP ASIA / OCEANIA ZONE Group One first round: (Hong Kong): Japan lead Hong Kong 3-0. (Bangkok) Thailand lead Pakistan 3-0.

DAVIS CUP AMERICAN ZONE Group One first round: (Buenos Aires) Argentina lead Mexico 2-1. (Santiago) Chile lead Canada 2-1. Group Two first round: (Lima) Peru bt Paraguay 3-0. (Guayaquil) Ecuador level with Puerto Rico 1-1. (Bogota) Colombia level with Dominican Republic 1-1.

VIRGINIA SLIMS WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT (Houston): Semi-final: C Martinez (Sp) bt G Sabatini (Arg) 6-3 6-3.