Singles stars Bernard Tomic and Lleyton Hewitt gave Australia a commanding 2-0 lead over China after day one of the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania qualifying tie in Geelong.
The rising star and the seasoned veteran enjoyed similar straight-sets victories on Friday over Chinese players, whose considerable ability belied their lowly rankings.
Tomic, 19, downed world number 502 Wu Di 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 after Hewitt had got the ball rolling at the Geelong Lawn Tennis Club with a 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) victory over Zhang Ze, who sits at number 278 on the ATP rankings.
It was Hewitt's 38th Davis Cup singles victory, a remarkable 14 more than by any other Australian.
Hewitt cruised through the opening two sets but was made to work harder in the third by Zhang, who was unable to convert two break points in the sixth game.
The set eventually went to a tie-break, which the vastly experienced Hewitt won 7-4 when Zhang tugged a forehand wide on the first match point.
Hewitt also beat Zhang in the final round of Asia-Oceania qualifying last year, although on that occasion he was taken to four sets on an indoor hardcourt in Beijing.
"It was such a similar match to when I played him in Beijing," Hewitt said.
"In the first two sets he wasn't really going for his shots quite as much and wasn't taking it on and I was able to cruise through the first two sets, the same as Beijing.
"Then he came out swinging in the third set and he's awkward when he's playing like that.
"He's swinging from the hip and taking his chances."
The toughest part of Tomic's match against Wu was the second set.
Wu broke early and claimed a 3-0 lead before the unorthodox Queenslander fought back.
Tomic proved steadier in the match-defining second-set tie-break, winning it 7-3 before powering away in the third set.
AAP
Tags: sport, tennis, geelong-3220 First posted February 10, 2012 16:51:14
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