UPDATE1-Tennis-Nalbandian and Canas put Argentina 2-1 up

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By Gaspard Sebag

BUENOS AIRES, April 12 (Reuters) - David Nalbandian and Guillermo Canas gave Argentina a 2-1 lead over Sweden in their Davis Cup quarter-final on Saturday, beating Jonas Bjorkman and Robert Linstedt 7-5 6-4 6-4 in the doubles.

Sweden, who beat Argentina 4-1 at home at the same stage of the competition last year, started promisingly but appeared to become intimidated after Nalbandian egged on the crowd during the first set.

Tempers also frayed in the second set when Sweden captain Mats Wilander, amid jeering and whistling, complained to the umpire that Nalbandian was using time-wasting tactics to disrupt his team's rhythm when they were serving.

"I think they got a bit unnerved," Nalbandian told reporters. "I wanted to make the public happy by winning, so we played every point as if it were the last."

Canas admitted the atmosphere was comparable to a soccer match.

"It was somewhat like football, because representing Argentina is something unique, something which you feel in your skin," he said.

The first 10 games went with serve until the crowd became more vociferous and Bjorkman lost his serve in the 11th game.