Thailand and Taiwan shared the spoils on the opening day of their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group 2 final at the National Tennis Development Centre, Muang Thong Thani yesterday.
Thailand saw their top-ranked Pruchya Isarow concede the second singles match to allow Taiwan to claw their way back into the tie after No.2 Kittiphong Wachiramanowong had won the opening encounter.
Kittiphong was impressive in handing a straight-set loss to Taiwan No.1 Yang Tsung-Hua.
Kittiphong, who is ranked 1,205th in the world, was involved in a close tussle with Yang in the first set, which the Thai eventually won 7-6 (6).
The second set saw Kittiphong put on an improved show and his precise groundstroke gave him a 6-4 win before he dominated Yang for a 6-1 victory in the third to wrap up the match.
"I am pleased with my performance today and hope that I will continue the good form on the final day. I will play with the same style against Lee Kuan-Yi on Sunday [tomorrow]," said Kittiphong.
Thailand No.1 Pruchya, ranked 987th in the world, was off to a troubled start against Lee Kuan-Yi.
A quick service break by Taiwan No.2 Lee led to a fightback by Pruchya, but the Thai still lost the first set 7-6 (3) following a tie-breaker.
Pruchya was slower in moving around the court in the second set and Lee raced to a 5-0 lead when the Thai had a word with his trainer and decided to retire, giving Taiwan a 1-1 tie.
Pruchya said: "It was a tough game and the old, nagging knee injury resurfaced. Things looked good during training but when I played today, I hurt a lot. I am sorry that I could not get a point for the team."
Thailand captain Virat Baerrohim said: "We are disappointed that Pruchya had an injury and had to pull out.
"We are hoping that [twins] Sonchat and Sanchai [Ratiwatana] will pick up a point for us in the doubles."
Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana take on Taiwanese pair Hung Jui-Chen and Wang Chieh-Fu at the same venue today.
Meanwhile, Japan and Australia took 2-0 leads in their Davis Cup World Group play-offs yesterday.
In need of victory against Ukraine to retain their place in the World Group next year, Japan opted to rest world No.5 Kei Nishikori in the opening singles, and the decision paid off in Tokyo.
Taro Daniel defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-1, and Yoshihito Nishioka gave the hosts a commanding lead by topping Illya Marchenko 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.
In Sydney, Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic had straight-set singles victories against Slovakia.
Kyrgios, Australia's No.1 player, opened with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over Andrej Martin. Tomic beat Jozef Kovalik 7-6 (5) 6-4, 6-4.
Australia have won the Davis Cup 28 times but hasn't captured the trophy since 2003. Bangkok Post/AP