Jonas Bjorkman stamped his class to clinch the opening singles and give Sweden a 1-0 lead over India in the Davis Cup World Group play-off in Delhi, on Friday.

Bjorkman outclassed India's number one player Prakash Amritraj 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in a two-hour, 11 minute battle, under hot and humid conditions at the R K Khanna stadium.

Local lad Rohan Bopanna was trailing world number 15 Thomas Johansson in the second singles when play was suspended due to rain.

Johansson was leading 7-6 (7/3), 6-6 (5-0).

Amritraj, ranked 271, realised he was against a superior opponent when Bjorkman forced six break points in the very first game.

The first break eventually came after 35 minutes in the seventh game with Bjorkman setting it up with two superb return winners.

In the second set, Amritraj faced a triple break point situation in the third game and obliged his opponent with a double fault.

The US-based Indian fought back to even the scores at 3-3, but Bjorkman broke back immediately in the next game.

The result was a foregone conclusion from there on, with Bjorkman gaining the imminent break of serve in the fifth game of the third set.

The six-foot tall Swede wrapped up the match with an ace, his ninth in the match, to put the seven-time champions ahead.