Tomic and Hewitt win Davis Cup singles

10 Feb 2012, 5:00 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Bernard Tomic and Lleyton Hewitt have given Australia a commanding 2-0 lead after day one of the Davis Cup tie against China in Geelong.

Australian Davis Cup captain Pat Rafter was a happy man after Bernard Tomic and Lleyton Hewitt got the job done on day one of the Asia-Oceania qualifying tie against Chinese opposition whose considerable ability belied their lowly rankings.

Playing his first match since last month's much-hyped Australian Open fourth-round clash with Roger Federer, Tomic adapted well to the more humble surrounds of a windy Geelong Lawn Tennis Club.

The 19-year-old rising star overcame some nervous moments in the second set on Friday to record a 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 win over world No.502 Wu Di, described by Hewitt as "the best 500 player I've ever seen".

Hewitt had earlier got the ball rolling with a 6-2 6-1 7-6 (7-4) victory over Zhang Ze, who sits at No.278 on the ATP rankings.

"Lleyton played really well, I thought," said Rafter.

"The other guy came at him really hard in the third set and Lleyton held him off really well.

"Bernie more than anything probably struggled mentally a little.

"It's hard for him to get up sometimes for these type of matches.

"He's playing someone he knows he should beat and he's clearly a better player.

"To close that out, he kept his mind together and that's one thing where I was very proud of him.

"He probably didn't play the prettiest tennis. I don't think he's overly happy with how he hit it, but he found a way to win."

Australia realised the Chinese were no mugs after their hard-fought 3-1 victory in a qualifying tie on an indoor hardcourt in Beijing last year, when Wu beat Marinko Matosevic and Zhang took a set off both Tomic and Hewitt.

"Their guys don't get out of their own country as much as they possibly should and, if they did, they'd be ranked around that 200 mark at least," said Rafter.

"Our boys played better here than they did in China."

Hewitt's win over Zhang was his 38th Davis Cup singles triumph, a remarkable 14 more than by any other Australian.

He cruised through the opening two sets but was made to work hard in the third by Zhang, who was unable to convert two break points in the sixth game.

"It was such a similar match to when I played him in Beijing," said Hewitt, who turns 31 later this month.

"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."

Australia are well-placed to take an unbeatable 3-0 lead in Saturday's doubles match where Hewitt and Chris Guccione will square off against Zhang and Li Zhe.

"I wanted to be 2-0 up, that's what we expected, that's what we wanted on day one and we're there," said Rafter.

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