Arnaud Clement [ Images ] and Michael Llodra kept France [ Images ] alive in their Davis Cup quarter-final against the United States on Saturday with an impressive 6-7, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 win over Bob and Mike Bryan [ Images ].

The Americans will go into Sunday's reverse singles with a 2-1 lead but will be disappointed their top-ranked doubles duo did not close out the tie on day two of the tie.

Andy Roddick [ Images ] is slated to play Paul-Henri Mathieu in the opening match on Sunday, while James Blake [ Images ] will take on Llodra in the fifth rubber.

The writing was on the wall for the Americans when Mike Bryan netted a forehand and allowed the Frenchmen to go ahead 4-3 with a break in the fourth set.

Despite the setback, the US would still fancy their chances of securing a last-four showdown against Spain since France have only surged back to win a tie from 0-2 down on three occasions -- the last time being against Italy [ Images ] in the 1996 semi-finals.

In career meetings, Clement and Llodra now have a 4-2 winning record against Bob and Mike Bryan - the Frenchmen won their last outing in the 2007 Wimbledon [ Images ] final.

"We knew before the match we had to play a very good match because a good match is never enough against them," Llodra said. "It was the same match at Wimbledon, we lost the first set in the tie-breaker and then won the next three sets."

The loss prevented the Bryans from surpassing John McEnroe [ Images ] and Peter Fleming as the most successful American doubles pairing in the men's team event.

McEnroe and Fleming hold a 14-1 win-loss record, while the Bryans are now 14-2.

After saving a set point against them in the opening set, the Americans bagged the first set when Mike Bryan hit a winning forehand crosscourt volley to take the tiebreak 9-7.

The Bryans celebrated the moment with one of their trademark chest bumps but their joy was short-lived.

The French secured the first break of the match in the second set when Clement produced a sizzling backhand crosscourt volley.

The French kept up the momentum in the third set by racing into a 2-0 lead thanks to a forehand error from Bob Bryan and went on to secure a memorable victory.