TIANJIN, Apr 4 (AFP): China and Uzbekistan shared the spoils on the opening day of their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group 1 tie Friday in two gruelling five-set matches.
Zhang Ze took a 2-1 set lead against Denis Istomin in the opening match of the second round tie, but the Uzbek-who is ranked 54th by the ATP, 150 places above his opponent-recovered to take the last two sets, eventually winning 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
China's top tennis player Wu Di (ranked 195) was crushed 6-1 by Farrukh Dustov in their opening set, but took the following two sets on tie-breaks, only to lose the fourth and set up a decider.
China is vying to reach the World Group play-offs later this year. The team reached the second round by beating New Zealand 3-1 in the previous stage.
China, Uzbekistan battle to share spoils
FE Team | Published: April 05, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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