Pruchya gives Thais respite on opening day
Hosts recover to salvage tie with Sri Lankans
>> Pruchya Isarow helped the Thai squad pick up a crucial point on the first day of their Davis Cup Asia/ Oceania Zone Group II clash with Sri Lanka in Bangkok yesterday.
Thailand and Sri Lanka were tied 1-1 at the end of the opening day of the competition.
The Thai side were trailing 1-0 when Pruchya stunned top-ranked Sri Lankan Sharmal Dissanayake to lift pressure off the team ahead of today’s doubles encounter.
The first singles match of the tie pitted Thailand’s Puriwat Chatpatcharoen against Harshana Godamanna, who prevailed 3-1 after a marathon.
Puriwat, playing in the Davis Cup for the first time, did not have an ideal start to the match and went down 6-3 to Godamanna, the second-ranked Sri Lanka player in the contest.
However, the 20-year-old Puriwat came back strongly as he forced the match into a 1-1 stalemate by capturing the second set 7-6 (4) following a tie-breaker.
Godamanna was quickly back to his best and he did not encounter much resistance from Puriwat on his way to claiming 6-3, 6-3 wins in the next two sets and putting Sri Lanka 1-0 ahead.
Puriwat said: “Before the match, I felt a lack of energy during the warm-up game I had with Danai [Udomchoke].
“Things only became worse during the match and I felt sick.
“I wasn’t under any pressure because I am taking part in the Davis Cup for the first time.
“It was my lack of fitness that let me down today. However, I will try my best to make amends in the reverse singles.”
The second singles match-up saw Pruchya dictate his terms on the court against Dissanayake.
Pruchya, who is ranked No.799 in the world, dominated the clash wireto-wire as he claimed a convincing 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Dissanayake to help Thailand level the match score at 1-1.
Thailand No.2 Pruchya said: “After Puriwat lost the first singles, I had to to get a point for the team. Now that I have done it, I feel more relaxed.”
Commenting on his reverse singles rubber against Godamanna tomorrow, Pruchya said: “I have never played him before. I will try my best to win that tie for Thailand as well.”
In today’s doubles, Thai twins Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana meet the Sri Lankan pair of Godamanna and Dissanayake.
AUSTRALIA 1 USA 1
Australia’s Bernard Tomic fought off a challenge from American Jack Sock to level the Davis Cup World Group tie 1-1 after the opening singles matches in Melbourne yesterday.
Tomic looked to be heading for a comfortable victory, rolling through the opening two sets, before being forced to battle hard to win 7-6 (7/2), 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in two hours 24 minutes on the grass surface of Kooyong.
The victory, in sweltering temperatures, was crucial for Lleyton Hewitt’s Australians, who lost the opening singles rubber when Sam Groth went down to big-hitting world No.11 John Isner 7-6 (7/2), 6-2, 6-2.
The tie is well poised heading into today’s pivotal doubles rubber with the Americans looking to edge ahead through the Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, against a yet-to-be determined Australian combination.
Tomic, ranked 20, sent tremors through the Australian camp when he hit a flat spot during the third set, inviting world No.24 Sock back into the match and a fourth set.
But Tomic rallied and broke the American in the ninth game and served out for a four-set win on the grass of Kooyong, former venue for the Australian Open.
“It was a tough match, I had a surface which was in my favour and I’m happy I won in the end,” a relieved Tomic said shortly after his victory.
Earlier Isner’s serve was too strong for the 77th-ranked Groth, wrapping up the contest in one hour 49 minutes in the opening singles.
Isner served his way out of three break points down in the first set to confidently take the opening set in a tiebreaker 7-2.
The beanpole American smashed 20 aces as Groth’s game deteriorated.