Venus clinches Cup tie
Michael Venus has pulled off a thrilling comeback to clinch victory for New Zealand in their Davis Cup tie against South Korea.
Venus came from a set and a break down to beat Seong Chan Hong in the final match of the tie in Auckland, after Rubin Statham had earlier missed the chance to seal victory in his singles rubber.
A win looked unlikely when Hong — already up two sets to one — broke early in the fourth set, but Venus turned things around, eventually triumphing in an epic five setter which lasted three hours, winning 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Venus said it took him a while to kick into gear in the decider.
“I think it finally kicked in what Al [captain Alistair Hunt] and Simon [Rea] have been telling me. Some things take a while to sink in with me, so I’m glad it did in time.” Hunt echoed those sentiments. “It showed [yesterday], once Mike settled down and got into a rhythm, and made better decisions, he hung on well. I’m pretty proud of the boys.”
Earlier, Statham had lost his singles clash to send the tie to a decider. New Zealand came into the day leading 2-1, after Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak won Saturday afternoon’s doubles in four sets.
Statham, who put the hosts ahead 1-0 on the opening day, was overmatched against the promising Soon Woo Kwon, losing 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, and leaving Venus requiring a win to secure the tie.
Venus started well, blasting serves and forehand winners to take the first set 6-3, but the perseverance of Hong showed through to take the next two sets.
Venus, who had played minimal singles matches in the past 12 months, found his footing though, with his powerful serve eventually grinding down Hong to win the tie.
New Zealand are now assured of a place in Asia Oceania Group One for next year.