Indonesia holds court with lead in Davis Cup tie<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia made a good start in the opening of
\nGroup II of the Davis Cup Asia Oceania zone by overpowering
\nMalaysia 2-0 at National Tennis Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,
\non Friday.<\/p>\n
Second singles Suwandi overcame Malaysian first singles
\nVasuthevan Ortchuan 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 while Indonesia's first singles
\nFebi Widhiyanto thrashed Selvam Veerasingam 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.<\/p>\n
Coach Deddy Prasetyo expressed confidence that Indonesia could
\nmake a clean sweep in the tie. Winners of the three-day tie will
\nplay either Pakistan or Chinese Taipei in October, vying to
\nqualify for the Asia-Oceania group one Davis Cup.<\/p>\n
Deddy said that Suwandi was one class better than Ortchuan,
\nwhile Febi had to fight hard before he could stop Veerasingam.<\/p>\n
\"Suwandi is of better quality that Ortchuan. The match was not
\nso tight. But Veerasingam has a good serve and volley. After a
\nwhile, Febi could figure out his manner of play and managed to
\ntake the lead with his fast and powerful return service. Selvam
\ncould not cope with Febi's speed,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In Taipei, Taiwan ran level with rival Pakistan in singles on
\nthe opening day of the Asia-Oceania group II Davis Cup second
\nround match held in central Taichung city on Friday.<\/p>\n
Taiwan's number one Lin Ping-chao defeated Asim Shafik in the
\nfirst singles match while Pakistan's top player Aisam-ul-Haq
\nQureshi beat Tsai Chia-yen in the following match.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old Lin raced through the opening singles, 6-1, 6-
\n0, 6-0 in 70 minutes, AFP reported.<\/p>\n
In the second match, Qureshi scored 6-4, 7-6 (7-2), 7-5 after
\nan 80-minute tough fight with Tsai, Taiwan's number three player.
\nA doubles match is scheduled on Saturday and two singles on
\nSunday.<\/p>\n
In Hong Kong, big-hitting Alexei Kedruyk helped Kazakhstan to
\na share of the opening singles in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania zone
\nGroup II play-off tie against Hong Kong here on Friday.<\/p>\n
Kedruyk, Kazakhstan's number one player, swept past Hong
\nKong's Wayne Wong 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 in a dazzling display of power
\ntennis to help his country level scores at 1-1 after the first
\nday singles.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong number one Melvin Tong had earlier given the hosts
\nthe initial advantage when he battled back after dropping the
\nfirst set against Pavel Baranov to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.<\/p>\n
But Hong Kong's hopes of taking a decisive lead in this tie to
\navoid relegation into Group III next year were quickly dispelled
\nby the big-serving Kedruyk who easily dispatched Wong to level
\nterms.<\/p>\n
Crucial<\/p>\n
In New Delhi, India and South Korea shared the opening singles
\nin their Asia-Oceania group one Davis Cup second round tie here
\non Friday.<\/p>\n
Olympic bronze medalist Leander Paes put India ahead with a
\nfluent 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 win over Asian Games champion Yoon Yong-Il
\nin the first match.<\/p>\n
India's hopes of extending the lead were, however, dashed by
\nSouth Korean number one Lee Hyung-Taik who blanked Syed
\nFazaluddin 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 in the second singles.<\/p>\n
Fazaluddin, son of former Indian soccer coach Syed Naeemuddin,
\nwill also partner Paes in Saturday's crucial doubles in the
\nabsence of Mahesh Bhupathy, who is recovering from shoulder
\nsurgery.<\/p>\n
Despite the scorching midday temperature, the Koreans too
\ndecided to field the same players in the doubles although both
\nteams have the option of making a change an hour before the
\nmatch.<\/p>\n
The winner of the best-of-five rubber will qualify for the
\nplay-offs for next year's elite 16-nation world group.<\/p>\n
In Yokohama, Japan, Japan moved to within a step of beating
\nLebanon when it took the two singles win in the Davis Cup
\nAsia\/Oceania Group One second round play-off on Friday.<\/p>\n
The Japanese, which suffered a shock 2-3 defeat to archrival
\nSouth Korea on Friday to face a relegation scare, got off to a
\nflying start with Yaoki Ishii beating Hicham Zaatini 6-4, 6-3, 6-
\n3 in the opener.<\/p>\n
Goichi Motomura wasted no time to follow Ishii with a 6-3, 6-
\n3, 6-1 victory over Ali Hamadeh to put Japan two up.<\/p>\n
Satoshi Iwabuchi and Tomas Shimada will take on Zaatini and
\nHamadeh in the doubles on Saturday before the two reverse singles
\nmatches on Sunday.<\/p>\n
World Group<\/p>\n
In Adelaide, Australia, Wayne Arthurs wrestled with David
\nPrinosil for more than four hours to give Australia a decisive 2-
\n0 lead over Germany in the Davis Cup World Group tennis
\nquarterfinals at Memorial Drive on Friday.<\/p>\n
Arthurs, called in last weekend as an injury replacement for
\nMark Philippoussis, wore down the German No.1, 7-6 (7\/5), 3-6, 7-
\n6 (7\/3), 6-7 (7\/9), 11-9 in four hours 13 minutes. He remains
\nunbeaten in three Davis Cup singles matches.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Lleyton Hewitt hurtled through the opening singles
\noverwhelming Cup debutante Michael Kohlmann, 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 in 86
\nminutes.<\/p>\n
There were only two service breaks in the late match with
\nPrinosil breaking Arthurs in the fourth game of the second set
\nand Arthurs in the decisive 20th game of the fifth set.<\/p>\n
Arthurs said he struggled to find rhythm on his big left-
\nhanded service, but he still came up with 39 aces.<\/p>\n
It was cruel reward for Prinosil, who is shouldering the full
\nworkload for Germany at the tie and has to back up in Saturday's
\ndoubles and again in Sunday's reverse singles.<\/p>\n
Prinosil felt he had played better than Arthurs, but lost the
\nlast point.<\/p>\n
Arthurs had and lost three separate match points against
\nPrinosil, but the winning break came in the final game of the
\nfifth set when he had the German down 0-40 on his service.<\/p>\n
The contest was over for Prinosil when he put a smash out on
\nthe fourth match point.<\/p>\n
Arthurs faces the prospect of missing out on Sunday's reverse
\nsingles to Pat Rafter, who may be called up by Australian captain
\nJohn Newcombe should he come through Saturday's doubles rubber
\nunscathed.<\/p>",
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