Taiwan took a 2-1 lead against Malaysia in their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group II first-round match in Kaohsiung yesterday.
Huang Liang-chi and Yi Chu-huan cruised to a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Mohd Merzuki and Syed Syed Naguib in 1 hour, 28 minutes in the doubles rubber at the Yang-Ming Tennis Center.
The Taiwanese duo did not face a single break point and converted five of 15, winning 100 of the 161 points contested to put the hosts in control ahead of today’s reverse singles matches.
Malaysia had taken an early lead on Friday when Merzuki defeated Hung Jui-chen 6-2, 6-7 (6/8), 0-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the opening singles rubber, but Huang leveled the tie by easing past Syed Naguib 6-0, 6-0, 6-2 in the second singles rubber.
To advance to the second round, Taiwan need to win one of today’s two reverse singles rubbers in Kaohsiung when Huang is due to take on Merzuki, before Hung faces Syed Naguib.
In the other Asia/Ocenia Group II first-round matches, the Philippines advanced to the second round when Francis Alcantara and Treat Huey cruised to a 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Kuwait’s Abdulrahman Alawadhi and Abdulhamid Mubarak to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in Metro Manila.
Thailand took a 2-1 lead over Sri Lanka when Sanchai and Sochat Ratiwatana defeated Yasitha de Silva and Dineshkanthan Thangarajah 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 in their doubles rubber in Nonthaburi, Thailand.
In Surakarta, Indonesia, the hosts were tied 1-1 with Vietnam after the doubles rubber was suspended due to rain.
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