Pakistan and Taiwan were locked 1-1 after the first day of their Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group I second-round match.
Pakistan No. 1 Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi defeated Taiwan's No. 2 player Wang Yeu-tzuoo in a one-sided 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 opening singles here at the grasscourts of Defence Club.
Top Taiwanese player Lu Yen-hsun leveled the scores when he defeated Aqeel Khan 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5) in a marathon three-hour second singles match.
Qureshi, who last week won gold medals in both singles and doubles events at the Islamic Games in Saudi Arabia, was in ruthless form on his favorite surface Friday.
"We know our strength is playing on grass and the surface suits us more than the Taiwan players," he said after his 90-minute easy victory against Yeu-tzoo.
Although Khan fought hard against Yen-hsun, he lost crucial points which cost him in the second and third sets.
Khan and Qureshi will pair in today's doubles against Yeu-tzoo and Yen-hsun before tomorrow's reverse singles.
"I am playing doubles with Aqeel Khan for quite some time now and we have developed a very good understanding. We are confident of doing well in tomorrow's doubles," Qureshi said.
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