The United States and Russia kept alive their hopes of reaching the Davis Cup final after winning yesterday's doubles against Spain and Argentina respectively.
Mardy Fish and world number one Bryan, who was playing his first game without injured twin Bob in six years, silenced a rowdy crowd inside Madrid's Las Ventas bullring to beat Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez 4-6 6-4 6-3 4-6 6-4 in 3 hours and 16 minutes to reduce the deficit to 2-1.
The victory repeats the United States doubles comeback from 2-0 behind in Seville four years ago, though US captain Patrick McEnroe will hope the similarities end there since Spain won the next rubber to seal their second Davis Cup.
In Buenos Aires, Russia stayed alive in their semi-final against Argentina when Igor Kunitsyn and Dmitry Tursunov beat the battling pair David Nalbandian and Guillermo Canas 6-2 6-1 6-7 3-6 8-6 after their opponents had saved three successive match points in the third set and gone one break ahead in the fifth.
Argentina still lead the tie 2-1 with today's two reverse singles still to play.
Yesterday's makeshift US pair, who only began practising a week ago, looked disjointed in losing a scrappy first set in half an hour under bright sunshine in the Spanish capital.
Fish started to find his feet in the second, while Verdasco lost his - netting to give the United States set point before offering Fish an easy volley to draw level.
The right-handed Americans looked comfortable against their lefty opponents in the third set, and in game eight Fish pounced on a Verdasco drive to break and give the visitors a 2-1 lead.
With the US on a roll, Spain were broken again in the opening game of the fourth but in a pivotal eighth game Lopez, celebrating his 27th birthday, split the American duo with a volley to break back and go on to set up a deciding fifth set.
Verdasco and Lopez looked in command but a sweet passing shot from Bryan and a poor volley from Lopez gave the U.S. a break in the fifth game, which they clung on to, finishing with a Fish ace and the Bryan brothers' trademark chest bump in celebration.
Roddick plays Nadal in today's first rubber, followed by Ferrer versus Querrey.
Russia needed only 52 minutes to wrap up the first two sets.
After the first four games went with serve, Russia won 10 of the next 11 as they capitalised on the nerves of Canas who suffered three successive service breaks and produced a flurry of unforced errors.
Argentina, who found few answers to Tursunov's serve, came back into the game when they broke Kunitsyn in the second game of the third set.
But more poor serving from Canas in the seventh allowed Russia to break back and send the set to a tiebreak.
Russia were on the point of winning as they led 6-3, only for Canas to find a new lease of life and save all three match points.
With Russia serving, he produced two bold shots from the baseline to save the first two, then salvaged the next with a serve which Tursunov could only return into the net.
Russia also saved three set points before Nalbandian wrapped up the tiebreak with a volley at the net.
Argentina carried the momentum through to the fourth set which they won when Kunitsyn overhit a forehand.
When Tursonov was broken in the second game of the final set, Argentina seemed poised for victory. Instead, they relaxed and Canas and Nalbandian lost their next service games.
But the match changed direction again when Tursonov was broken in the eighth game, leaving the set tied at 4-4.
Nalbandian brought the partisan Parque Roca crowd to its feet with two exquisite drop shots and an ace to hold his serve in the 11th game but the resolute Russians refused to lose heart.
Canas was broken in the 13th game and Tursonov held serve to clinch the rubber.