Kiwis Drop Doubles Match To Trail Pakistan 1-2 In Davis Cup

New Zealand will have a mammoth task if they are to win the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group II semifinal tennis tie against Pakistan after dropping the vital doubles in straight sets in two and a half hours of play.

The Kiwi pairing of Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus were defeated by the experienced pair of Aisam Qureshi and Aqeel Kan 7-6(6) 6-3 6-2 to give Pakistan a two matches to one lead over the home side at the new indoor all-sports venue in Hawera.

Despite their inexperience – Venus in his first Davis Cup tie and Daniel having been in just a couple the Kiwi duo took it to the Pakistanis in the first set and were at 6-6 in the tiebreak but couldn’t sustain the effort as Qureshi in particular stepped up the pace and showed how he made the quarterfinals of doubles at Wimbledon just over a week ago and why he is ranked at 37 in the world. The unorthodox Khan also played one of his best matches for many years for the Pakistan team as well.

In the second set the Kiwis had their serves broken twice, while the third set had the visiting side race away a bit more to score the straight set match.

The tie now comes down to the reverse singles starting at 11am on Sunday with Kiwi No1 Rubin Statham to take on Qureshi in the vital first game followed by Venus against Khan.

“We always knew it was going to be tough,” said team captain, Marcel Vos after the doubles loss. “We were zero for nine in the break points in the first set, but we just couldn’t break them. It was a lot closer than the score suggests. My boys played good today. Their number two, Khan played well today – he admitted it was his best match in 10 years. We always knew we were up against a world class doubles player.”

“This tie can go either way still. We know what we have to do and think we can still do it,” said a disappointed Vos who still believes his side can stage a comeback victory to win overall. “Rubin is playing well and will have to take on Qureshi and he can do that. We are favourite to win the second singles if it goes that far. I’d rather have Rubin in than anyone else he’s going to have to step in up for us again. He’s got the experience and the record.”

On day one of the clash Statham beat Khan in easy straight sets while Venus lost a dramatic five setter on debut 15-13 in a match which lasted over four hours to Qureshi.

Results:

Day 1:

Rubin Statham(New Zealand) bt Aqeel Khan(Pakistan) 6-4 6-0 6-0

Aisam Qureshi(Pakistan) bt Michael Venus(New Zealand) 7-6(2) 4-6 6-2 2-6 15-13

Day 2:

Qureshi/A Khan(Pakistan) bt Venus/Marcus Daniell(New Zealand) 7-6(6) 6-3 6-2