Australia and Belgium were locked at one-all after the first day of their Davis Cup play-off yesterday, after local hero Lleyton Hewitt and Olivier Rochus won their opening matches.
Former world No. 1 Hewitt put Australia ahead early, overcoming 22-year-old Ruben Bemelmans in scorching conditions in just over three hours 7-6 (7-4), 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.
Hewitt, who equalled Adrian Quist as Australia’s most successful Davis Cup player with his 43rd win, took on Bemelmans after 117-ranked Steve Darcis was forced to withdraw at the last minute with a shoulder injury.
Bemelmans used his big forehand to force Hewitt to 6-6 in the first set but the 29-year-old recovered to take the tiebreaker 7-4 and went on to claim the second set in 41 minutes.
The world No. 191 stormed back in the third, breaking Hewitt three times and claiming it in just 33 minutes in front of a vocal crowd.
Fighting the heat and humidity of Cairns, which caused one spectator to faint during the fourth set, world No. 36 Hewitt staged a familiar fightback, breaking Bemelmans to finish the set 6-4.
Australia’s perfect start was short-lived, with Belgium’s Rochus overcoming 150-ranked Australian Carsten Ball in the second match 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (6-5) in just under two and a half hours.
Rochus, who was a key member of the Belgian team that dumped Australia from the elite World Group in 2007, spent 47 minutes winning the first set and 36 minutes taking the second.
However, the 23-year-old Ball showed grit in the third, forcing a tie-break before eventually succumbing.
Meanwhile, World No. 27 Thomaz Bellucci survived a five-set marathon against India’s Rohan Bopanna to give Brazil a 1-0 lead in their Davis Cup World Group playoff.
The left-hander fought back from the brink to prevail over the 479th-ranked Bopanna 6-7 (2/7), 7-6 (9/7), 7-5, 4-6, 10-8 in a thriller that lasted four hours and 28 minutes.
The Indian led 5-2 in the decider when Bellucci saved three match points and reeled off three games in a row to make it 5-5.
The 22-year-old Brazilian then broke Bopanna’s serve in the 17th game and held his own in the next to clinch victory in front of some 1,500 home fans at the Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium.
“I don’t know how I won today,” a visibly relieved Bellucci said. “It could have gone either way many times in the match. I was fortunate I hung in there and was able to win.”
At press time India’s Somdev Devvarman was leading Ricardo Mello by two sets to one in the day’s second singles match.
Elsewhere, Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram gave Israel a 2-1 lead over Austria in their play-off tie in Tel Aviv after their straight sets doubles win over Jurgen Melzer and Alexander Peya.
In Thursday’s singles matches Israel’s Dudi Sela beat Andreas Haider-Maurer 6-4, 6-1, 6-3, while Melzer defeated Harel Levy 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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