New Zealand Crushes Pakistan’s hope for Davis Cup Final
In the semi finals of the Group II of the Asia/Oceania Region, the New Zealanders staged a comeback to defeat Pakistan after their opponent’s lead of 2-1 on day two. The two sides have met each other in the Davis Cup twice before. With a levelling score tie of 1-1, the tie was expected to be a tough competition as far as the head on stats are concerned. Nevertheless on court Pakistan team had a sort of ‘advantage’ over the Zealanders, the inclusion of novice Austen Childs into the New Zealand team. Childs came as a surprise and proved to be the secret weapon of the winning side. The young student from University of Louisville, USA was given a single rubber to play from his side.
The first two days of the tie being played at indoor courts in the North Island town of Hawera, were excellent for the Pakistani side as they had an upper hand throughout the first 3 rubbers. The New Zealand team came through after having a struggling fight against Sri Lanka to break the tie and win by 3-2 in Colombo. Pakistan on the other hand claimed a 3-1 victory against Hong Kong, a victory which also levels the two opponents’ head to head score at 2-2. In the first rubber, Jose Statham uprooted Aqeel Khan in straight sets by 6-4 6-0 6-0. Khan seemed to be of no match to Statham’s serves and failed to break points on them.
From the second rubber the Wimbledon doubles quarter finalist Aisam Qureshi put his side in the driving seat when he beat opponent Michael Venus in a long match. The marathon match saw both the players taking control of the sets alternatively. In the first set Aisam scoring some crucial points took the lead. After duelling for a long time a tiebreak resulted when both had won 6 games. Aisam performed exceptionally consistent to score 7 points against his opponent’s 2 points to win the set by 7-6(2). The second and fourth set were taken by Venus 6-4 6-2 where Aisam took the third set by 2-6. The showdown for the second rubber came to a fifth set where 28th games were played. Aisam after a long and tiresome battle took his opponent 15-13.
With a levelling score of 1-1 against New Zealand, the Aisam Aqeel duo marched into the doubles match against Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus. Aisam a very good doubles player guided his team to a three set victory. Tension was on the rise between the two teams as this was a crucial match of their semi finals tie. The first set saw Aisam playing some magnificent shots where his team mate lagged behind and looked weak in the court. After the tie in the set, Qureshi’s side successfully scored a win of 8-6 to take the first set. In the second set Aqeel got back on his feet and the duo played with great coordination to score yet another set win by 6-3. The third set also saw the green shirts dominating black shirts, winning it by 6-2 to take the lead in their overall score to 2-1.
Hopes and spirits were high for the Pakistani side in the final day. The fourth rubber was played between the best of both sides. Jose Statham, the number one ranked New Zealand player and Aisam Qureshi, the number one ranked from Pakistani side. The match was expected to be a thrilling and tough one considering both the players’ records. But Statham’s confident shots and serves saw Qureshi tumbling in straight sets by 6-2 6-1 6-3. After the rubber the position of both the sides was uncertain as New Zealand team had a new player in their team. In the fifth rubber Austen Childs played surprisingly well to seal the victory for his side. Breaking Khan’s serve in the first set, the 21 year old player played confidently to score a straight sets victory over his experienced opponent by 6-1 6-3 6-3 in his debut match at the Davis Cup. New Zealand will now play the winner of the tie between Thailand and Indonesia in the finals. Winner of the final will also secure a spot in the Group 1 of the Asia/Oceania region.
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