Lu Yen-hsun wrapped up a rain-affected Davis Cup victory over the Philippines yesterday after his reverse singles rubber was relocated from Kaohsiung to Tainan.
The Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group II second-round match, which had been taking place at the Kaohsiung Yangming Tennis Courts on Friday and Saturday, was relocated to Tainan due to the weather, but that did not disrupt the Taiwanese world No. 61, who eased to a 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Ruben Gonzales in his singles rubber.
Lu’s victory gave Taiwan an unassailable 3-1 lead in the tie and it saw the hosts advance to a third-round showdown with Pakistan for a place in Asia/Oceania Group I next year.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
On Friday, Hung Jui-chen eased to a 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 victory over Jeson Patrombon in the first singles rubber, before Lu gave the hosts a 2-0 lead with a comfortable victory over Patrick-John Tierro by exactly the same score.
On Saturday, the Philippines fought back when Gonzales and Treat Huey defeated Taiwanese pairing Lee Hsin-han and Peng Hsien-yin 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/3) in a closely contested doubles rubber.
Taiwan are looking to bounce straight back to Asia/Oceania Group I after they were relegated when they lost 4-1 to New Zealand in a relegation playoff in October last year.
AUSTRALIA 3, KAZAKHSTAN 2
Tennis warhorse Lleyton Hewitt clinched a fighting comeback from 0-2 down to lift Australia into the semi-finals of the Davis Cup in Darwin, Australia, yesterday.
The 34-year-old, playing in a record 40th Davis Cup tie, sealed a 3-2 victory over Kazakhstan with a gritty 7-6 (7/2), 6-2, 6-3 win in the fifth rubber over Aleksandr Nedovyesov.
It was the first time in 76 years that 28-time champions Australia had clawed back from 0-2 down to win a Davis Cup tie.
“I love the back-against-the-wall situation and that’s what we had after day one,” Hewitt said amid high emotion. “We rallied together and found a way to win. We didn’t panic when we were 2-0 down. We’re united for the one goal. It’s been a lot of fun.”
While it was Hewitt, Australia’s most successful player in the Davis Cup, who won the final rubber for his 42nd singles triumph in the team competition, it was Sam Groth who kept the tie alive for his nation with a hard-fought 6-3, 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 7-6 (8/6) win over Mikhail Kukushkin.
The big-serving Groth thundered down 29 aces to just get over the line against the never-say-die Kukushkin in just under three hours on the grass courts in Darwin.
Australia’s victory sets up a semi-final against either Britain or France.
The hosts looked on the brink of being dumped from the competition when they trailed 0-2 after Friday’s singles following defeats for youngsters Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios.
Hewitt and Groth kept Australia in the tie with a straight-sets doubles win over Andrey Golubev and Nedovyesov on Saturday, setting up a tense final day.
Captain Wally Masur made the big call of bringing in Groth and Hewitt over Kyrgios and Kokkinakis to pull off a famous come-from-behind victory by the team’s old stagers.
Masur sought to be inclusive amid the wild on-court celebrations.
“I hope that [Kyrgios and Kokkinakis] realize that no one sits in judgement that they lost a tennis match,” Masur said. “They have so long to go and have so much ability, and are great kids. As Lleyton said, they are the next generation of our team and I just really look forward to it.”
Hewitt, roared on by the home crowd, never gave Nedovyesov a chance in closing out the final rubber to take his overall Davis Cup win-loss record to 58-19 in his 17th and final year on the circuit before he takes over as Australia’s non-playing captain next year.
World No. 68 Groth made a flying start by winning the first two sets, but was dragged into a dogfight by Kukushkin, before winning two tight tiebreakers to clinch a tie-leveling victory.
“This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever had in tennis. It’s unbelievable,” Groth said. “My serve is something I rely on. It’s my biggest strength. It came through under pressure, especially in that fourth-set tiebreak.”
It was heartbreak for Kazakhstan, who were bidding to reach the Davis Cup semi-finals for the first time.
“Everything went [Australia’s] way,” Kazakhstan captain Dias Doskarayev said. “We lost four tiebreaks. Tiebreaks are kind of a lottery. So the tennis gods were on the Aussie side. That’s sport. That’s tennis.”
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