Australia lead China 2-0

Straight sets wins for Lleyton Hewitt and Bernard Tomic on Friday gave Australia a 2-0 lead over China in their best-of-five Davis Cup tie. Veteran two-time grand slam winner Hewitt beat China’s top-ranked men’s player Zhang Ze, while Tomic saw off rising youngster Wu Di in the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I first round tie. “One day I hopefully can win the Davis Cup,” said Tomic, 19, after his 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 victory over world number 502 Wu at the Geelong Lawn Tennis Club. Seasoned Davis Cup campaigner Hewitt, who reached the fourth round of last month’s Australian Open along with Tomic, said Wu’s form was better than his ranking. “Wu is the best 500 player I’ve ever seen,” he said.
Hewitt defeated Zhang 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) and will now hope to win the tie when he partners Chris Guccione in the doubles on Saturday. South Korea take 2-0 lead over Taiwan: South Korea upset higher-ranked Taiwan to take the first two rubbers to open a 2-0 lead in the Asia-Oceania zone Group I first round on Friday. Lim Yong-Kyu, ranked 288th and nicknamed “Monster” for his enduring stamina, came from a 2-0 deficit to defeat world number 273 Ti Chen, 5-7, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-4.
The second singles tie saw a more stunning victory for South Korea as world number 793 Jeong Suk-Young triumphed over Tsung-hua Yang, ranked 177th.
Saturday’s doubles will see South Korea’s Lim Yong-Kyu/Seol Jae-Min pair up against Tsung-hua Yang/Chu-huan Yi.
Croatia, Japan draw even 1-1 in Davis Cup: Ivo Karlovic came to his side’s rescue on Friday, beating Japanese number one Kei Nishikori as Croatia evened out the first day of the Davis Cup tennis World Group first round tie on Friday. Croatia’s number three Karlovic fired down 18 aces on his way to a straightforward 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 victory in the second singles rubber.
The 22-year-old Nishikori, who reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open last month to become the highest-ranked Japanese men’s player at 20th in the world, did not have a single breakpoint throughout the 109-minute match. Earlier in the day, Japanese number two Go Soeda caused a stir when he stormed back from two sets down to beat Ivan Dodig 6-7 (3/7), 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 in an opener that lasted four hours and five minutes. “I can’t believe that I actually won. I didn’t feel that there was a big difference with my opponent. It was a result of my usual hard work. It paid off,” said Soeda, ranked 90th against Dodig’s 55th.
Uzbeks race to 2-0 Davis Cup lead over NZealand: Uzbekistan’s Davis Cup team took an early stranglehold in its tie against New Zealand in Tauranga on Friday, convincingly winning the first two rubbers to open up a 2-0 lead.
World number 58 Denis Istomin cruised past Rubin Statham 6-1, 6-1, 6-3, taking barely 90 minutes to dispose of a player almost 500 places below him in the men’s tour rankings. Farrukh Dustov had a slightly tougher assignment against Michael Venus, coming back from a set down to win 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
The result means New Zealand must win Saturday’s doubles rubber to retain any hope of claiming victory.
Corretja’s new-look Spain open title defence: Alex Corretja’s new-look Spain open their Davis Cup title defence against minnows Kazakhstan in Oviedo starting on Friday.
Just two months after lifting the trophy for the fifth time against Argentina in Seville, Corretja takes over from Albert Costa as the hosts bid to defend their interests without world number two Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez.
The Spaniards are however overwhelming favourites in their first meeting with Kazakhstan, a team made up of Russian-born players which made its debut in the World Group last year.
Former French Open winner Juan Carlos Ferrero returns for Spain after a two-year absence from the men’s team tournament, and he will be joined by Nicolas Almagro, Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez. Ferrero, ranked 48, has a 17-7 Davis Cup record and last played in 2009. The 32-year-old 2003 Roland Garros champion opens against 61st-ranked Mikhail Kukushkin on Friday with world number 11 Almagro, who has a 3-2 record, then taking on 132nd-ranked Andrey Golubev.
On Saturday Granollers teams up with Davis Cup debutant Lopez in the doubles against Yuriy Schukin and Evgeny Korolev, with the reverse singles on Sunday deciding who will advance to meet either Russia or Austria who play at Wiener Neustadt. Corretja said he had no problem with Nadal skipping the tie.
“Well, the calendar is very complex for everyone, not only for the four at the top but for everyone else,” he said.