S. Korea leads Indonesia 2-0 Davis Cup opener
S. Korea leads Indonesia 2-0 Davis Cup opener
SEOUL (Agencies): South Korea led Indonesia 2-0 after the
opening singles matches of the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania zone second
round playoff Friday.
South Korea's Lee Hyung-taik, the world's No. 87 player, beat
Indonesia's Andrian Raturandang 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the first
singles match at Seoul's Olympic Park outdoor court.
South Korean Yoon Young-il also defeated Indonesian Suwandi 6-
3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 in the day's second singles match.
Lee, whose career peaked with a fourth round showing at the
U.S. Open last year, will team up with Yoon against Indonesia's
Sulistyo Wibowo and Bonit Wiryawan in Saturday's doubles match.
On Sunday, Lee plays Suwandi and Yoon plays Andrian.
In Tokyo, India's Leander Paes and Japan's Takao Suzuki both
scored easy straight-set victories on the opening day of their
Davis Cup tennis Asia-Oceania zone Group One second round tie on
Friday.
Paes dominated the net to put India up 1-0 with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-
3 win over Yaoki Ishii in the opening rubber.
But Suzuki leveled the tie 1-1 with a 6-1, 6-0, 6-2 victory
over Paes' doubles partner Mahesh Bhupathi in the second singles
match.
Suzuki will team up with Thomas Shimada to take on Paes and
Bhupathi, the former world number one doubles pair, in the
crucial doubles tie on Saturday.
The Japanese duo will have their work cut out for them when
they come up against Paes and Bhupathi, who formed the most
successful doubles pair in the world in 1999, when they reached
the doubles finals of all four Grand Slams winning the French
Open and Wimbledon titles.
Japan is counting on its ace Suzuki to win both of his two
singles if it is to have any chance of beating India for the
first time since 1930.
The winners of the best-of-five tie on the Ariake Coliseum
hard court will qualify for a play-off in September against one
of the eight first round losers from this year's World Group.
The World Group includes the United States and last year's
winners Spain. The play-off winners go into the 2002 World Group.
Japan, seeking a place in the World Group for the first time
since 1985, has lost 15 times in a row to India. Japan's only
victories came in 1921 and 1930. When the two countries last met,
in 1990, India won 4-1.
In Bangkok, Thailand was in a strong position against China
after the host nation took a 2-0 lead on the first day's play in
their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group One play-off tie on
Friday.
But both Thai players made hard work of their victories, as
Paradorn Srichaphan overcame Wang Yu 7-5, 6-4, 6-2, and Danai
Udomchoke rallied to beat Zhang Yu 6-1, 4-6, 2-6, 6-0, 6-2.
World Group
In Florianopolis, host Brazil captain Ricardo Acioly has
accused Australia of complaining about the court for their Davis
Cup quarterfinals tie this weekend.
"It's normal for them to have a whine like this," Acioly said
on Thursday after he was told that Australia's Patrick Rafter had
observed that the clay court was very slow.
"In Australia, we played on grass and we didn't say anything,"
he added, referring to last year's semifinal in Brisbane which
Australia won 5-0.
"When you play in the Davis Cup, you have to adapt to the
conditions of the local team and that is what matters."
Australia captain John Fitzgerald refused to be drawn into a
slanging match and said he was happy with the court, even after a
heavy shower on Thursday evening.
"We didn't lose any sleep over it," he said.
The draw pitted world number two Gustavo Kuerten, who will be
playing in his home town, against eighth-ranked Rafter in the
first of the opening singles on Friday.
Fernando Meligeni will face Australian number one Lleyton
Hewitt in the following rubber.
Kuerten and Rafter have both been picked for Saturday's
doubles. Kuerten will line up with Davis Cup stalwart Jaime
Oncins and Rafter is due to team up with Wayne Arthurs, though
the captains can change the partnerships up to one hour before
the start.