Australia downs South Korea 3-0 to advance to World Group play offs – Davis Cup 2012
Australia clinched the doubles match to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in their Davis Cup, Group 2 tie against South Korea in Brisbane on Saturday.
Marinko Matosevic and Chris Guccione bounced back after an early scare to beat Suk-Young Jeong and Jae-Min Seol 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in the third rubber.
With this win, Australia has qualified for the World Group plays offs, which will be held in September.
Matosevic, who was playing his first live rubber at the Davis Cup, looked under pressure and started pretty badly. He lost his serve at the beginning of first set and made a number of errors in Guccione’s game, going down double
break to trail 1-4. The Australians got one back but could not come to level terms, losing the opener 4-6.
Guccione kept his cool and continued to bring his partner back in confidence. His calmness paid off, as Matosevic found form in the second set, as the Australians lost only one game to seal it 6-1.
South Koreans resisted again in the third set but Guccione and Matosevic took advantage of early lead, capturing it 6-4.
With the winning momentum on their side, the Australian duo grabbed double breakthrough and maintained it till the end of the fourth set, closing it 6-2.
Australian team’s captain, Patrick Rafter, was satisfied with the performance of his side. The Australian said, "They put up a great effort today, they came at us with everything they've got, and the boys did well to turn things
around. I didn't really want to come back and play a live singles match tomorrow, so it was great for the guys.”
Rafter added, "We get to have another crack at getting back into the world group. We lost to Switzerland last year in a great match and let's just hope that we get another opportunity and we've got to get back in there. It's been
a while since Australia's been back in the world group and I think we've got the team.”
Australia, who has won the Davis Cup title 28 times and is second only to USA, will try to earn a place in the 16-nation World Group, when they take on either India or Uzbekistan at the play offs in September.
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