Thailand took a commanding 2-0 lead on the first day of their Davis Cup tie against Pakistan yesterday.
In the opening singles in the Asia/Oceania Group 2 encounter, Thailand No.2 Prachya Isarow beat Pakistan No.1 Aisam Qureshi 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.
Thailand No.2 Prachya Isarow in action against Pakistan’s Aisam Qureshi.
In the second singles, Thailand No.1 Danai Udomchoke beat Pakistan No.2 Samir Iftikhar 6-0, 6-4, 6-1 at the National Tennis Development Centre, Muang Thong Thani.
Prachya said after the match: “In the first set, I did not play well but after that we changed our tactics. The opponent seemed to run out of steam and that made my job easier.”
Danai said: “My serve was not good. It was a difficult match because Samir is an aggressive player who often goes to the net. I also had a cramp and fortunately that I won.”
In today’s doubles match, twins Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana will face Qureshi and Aqeel Khan.
Thailand need only one more point to gain promotion to Group 1 next year.
In Perth, Lleyton Hewitt won his 41st singles match and Nick Kyrgios swept through in straight sets as Australia took a 2-0 lead over Uzbekistan in their Davis Cup World Group play-off yesterday.
Hewitt, 33, playing in his record 38th Davis Cup tie, outgunned Farrukh Dustov 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 to capitalise on rising youngster Kyrgios’s opening rubber victory over Denis Istomin.
Kyrgios, 19, who reached this year’s Wimbledon quarter-finals and the third round at the US Open, powered past Istomin 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in a crushing blow for the Uzbeks’ chances of winning the grass-court tie in Perth.
Hewitt, ranked 49 in the world, extended his Davis Cup record to 55 wins, which also comprises 14 wins in the doubles.
Hewitt is expected to join forces with Chris Guccione in Saturday’s doubles to wrap up the tie for Australia over Uzbekistan.
“It was the perfect start for me to go out there and have the pressure on Dustov being one-nil down, with [Uzbekistan’s] better player already having lost,” Hewitt said.
“And now we have to finish it off. We’ll be doing everything in our power to do that tomorrow.
“I’m always keen to play, my body feels good and I think on this surface Gucc [Guccione] and I are pretty tough to beat.”
Kyrgios said he dictated his match with Istomin through his first serve.
“I actually wasn’t serving great today at all but I slowed down the speed and was still able to dictate play off my first serve, and I thought I returned really well and neutralised his best serves,” 53rd-ranked Kyrgios said.
“Obviously he wasn’t feeling 100 percent, but I’m far from that as well, and I stayed out there, competed and got the job done.”
Istomin, ranked 55, was troubled by a hip complaint and that wasn’t helped with the low-bouncing court leaving him unsure if he can play doubles today or the reverse singles tomorrow.
“I felt a little bit of tightness before but I wasn’t thinking it was so bad,” Istomin said. bangkok post/afp