Robin Soderling brought Sweden back into their Davis Cup quarter-final against Argentina when he demolished Jose Acasuso.

Soderling needed one hour 51 minutes to finish off his opponent 6-0 6-4 6-1 to leave the tie level at 1-1 after David Nalbandian had earlier recorded a 6-2 5-7 6-4 6-2 win over Thomas Johansson in the opening rubber.

Argentina captain Alberto Mancini's decision to play Acasuso ahead of the higher-ranked Guillermo Canas and Juan Monaco backfired as Soderling strolled through the first set without losing a game.

Acasuso came to life in the second set which produced four breaks of serve. However, the Argentine surrendered the set with a double fault in the 10th game.

Despite fanatical support from the home crowd, the third set was almost a repeat of the first as Soderling out-played his opponent.

"There's no reason to think that we can't win at least one singles on Sunday and in doubles anything can happen," said Sweden captain Mats Wilander.

Soderling was surprised at the ease of his win while Acasuso was kicking himself.

"You never expect an easy victory in the Davis Cup," said the Swede. "I played three really good sets today."

Acasuso said: "I'm angry, firstly because I lost and secondly because I was unable to raise my level...I didn't serve well and never felt strong."

Facing an opponent ranked 55 places below him, Nalbandian outclassed Johansson in the opening set, finishing with a powerful backhand on his first set point.

"(Nalbandian's) backhand is probably the best backhand on the tour," Johansson said.

Nalbandian retained momentum in the second set and took a 2-0 lead but former Australian Open champion Johansson immediately broke back.

The Argentine number one then showed signs of frustration as he lost his serve in the 11th game after Johansson produced a series of solid returns.

"I lost a little bit of focus," admitted Nalbandian.

On a cloudy, misty morning and with the Parque Roca stadium only half full, Nalbandian regained his rhythm in the third set, taking his opponent's serve early on to lead 5-2.

The experienced Swede broke back in the ninth game but Nalbandian replied with a break of his own in the next to take the third set.

"When David (Nalbandian) is under pressure he plays well," said Johansson.

Nalbandian swept through the fourth set, sealing victory on his second match point in two hours 54 minutes when Johansson dumped a forehand into the net.

"I did my best today but he was the better player," said Johansson.

Reuters