Taiwan rallied on the final day of their Davis Cup tie with China in Shanghai, but it ended in disappointment as they suffered a 3-2 defeat in their Asia/Oceania Group 1 tie yesterday.
The setback was Taiwan’s first loss to China in Davis Cup history. Taiwan beat China 3-2 in the Asia/Oceania Group 2 semi-final in 2003 and had another 3-2 win in a Group 1 relegation playoff first-round tie in 2007.
Yang Tsung-hua, ranked No. 308 in the world in singles, lost to world No. 368 Wu Di of China 6-3, 6-2, 2-6, 6-0 in the decisive singles match yesterday at the Xianxia Tennis Center, ending Taiwan’s hopes.
Photo: CNA
Earlier in the day, Lu Yen-hsun — Taiwan’s top-ranked player on the ATP Tour at No. 42 in the world — thrashed world No. 299 Gong Maoxin in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, to tie the score at 2-2 following Taiwan’s disastrous showing on the first day of the tie on Friday.
China stunned Taiwan in the opening day singles to take a 2-0 lead, with Gong beating Yang 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 8-6 in five hours and Wu shocking Lu 6-4, 3-6, 3-6, 7-5, 9-7, leaving Taiwan trailing 2-0 in the best-of-five tie.
The opening-day singles losses forced team captain Ho Kuo-long to change his lineup, replacing the original doubles pairing of Chen Ti and Yi Chu-huan with Lu and Yang. They defeated Chinese duo Gong and Li Zhe 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5) on Saturday in 3 hours, 44 minutes, to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Taiwan’s best Davis Cup performances were in 2005, 2006 and 2009, when they reached the second round of Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1.
Lu’s singles victory yesterday was his first win this year, as he remains without a victory on the ATP tour, having lost all six matches he has played.
On Saturday, Spain, Sweden and Argentina all reached the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup after sealing World Group first-round victories with a minimum of fuss.
Holders Serbia edged 2-1 in front of India, although as was the case in Friday’s singles, their unfancied opponents put up fierce resistance in Novi Sad.
Favorites Spain, seeking to regain the title they have made a habit of winning over the past 11 years, took a 3-0 lead against Belgium in Charleroi as Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco beat Olivier Rochus and Steve Darcis 7-6 (7/0), 6-4, 6-3.
Belgium have yet to win a set in the tie with two “dead” rubbers to come — one of which world No. 1 Rafael Nadal will treat as a glorified practice session against Xavier Malisse.
Nadal made a winning return on Friday after more than a month out injured when he cruised past Ruben Bemelmans to give his side a 2-0 lead that Belgium were ill-equipped to overhaul.
Lopez is already casting his mind ahead to a quarter-final against the US after Bob and Mike Bryan gave Jim Courier’s side a 2-1 lead against Chile in Santiago.
“The match against the United States will be extremely tough,” he told reporters. “They are one of the toughest teams we could get playing away, with Andy Roddick and John Isner and the world’s best doubles team.”
Sweden took an unassailable lead against a below-strength Russia, with Simon Aspelin and Robert Lindstedt beating Igor Kunitsyn and Dmitry Tursunov, while in Buenos Aires, Argentina also established a 3-0 lead.
The other five first-round ties are all still alive going into the reverse singles, with the US, Germany, France, the Czech Republic and Serbia one point away from progressing to the last eight.
Serbia probably expected to be home and dry against India even without world No. 3 Novak Djokovic, who skipped the tie to prepare early for this week’s Indian Wells tournament.
However, Janko Tipsarevic’s defeat by Somdev Devvarman on Friday threw a spanner in the works, meaning Saturday’s doubles featuring Ilija Bozoljac and Nenad Zimonjic against Devvarman and Rohan Bopanna took on huge significance.
Once again, the Indians were in no mood to be bullied in the 6,000-capacity SPENS Sports Center in the town that produced former women’s world No. 1 Monica Seles.
The Indian duo took the first set, but Bozoljac and Zimonjic responded to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (12/10) and give Serbia a 2-1 lead.
It was edge-of-the-seat stuff in a 12-10 tiebreak, where India were within a point of forcing a fifth set.
“We were in a tight spot after dropping the first set and had to raise our game considerably to win the match,” Zimonjic said. “We were a bit lucky to save that set point when we hit some impossible shots and we are glad we are ahead in the tie.”
Viktor Troicki, who sealed Serbia’s epic triumph against France in December’s final in Belgrade, faces Devvarman in the first reverse singles. The winners face an away tie in Sweden.
France were stalled by Austria inside a hangar at Vienna’s international airport — Juergen Melzer and Oliver Marach keeping the tie alive for the hosts with victory over Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra.
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