Davis Cup: Aqeel confident despite China’s 2-0 lead

Visitors win both matches on day one but may find it more difficult on day two

KARACHI: Pakistan had a slow start to their Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group I campaign as China took a 2-0 lead on the opening day against the hosts on the clay courts of Colombo, Sri Lanka on Friday.

Aqeel Khan, Pakistan’s most experienced campaigner with 46 Davis Cup matches to his name, lost his match 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 to Ze Zhang and while Yasir Khan impressed in his duel with Di Wu, he was unable to prevent China from taking a 2-0 lead as he fell to a 6-3, 1-6, 4-6, 2-6 loss.

“We knew China wouldn’t be an easy side, they are better than us on paper,” Aqeel told The Express Tribune. “Their players are ranked higher, but Yasir really built up pressure. He missed out on a few break-points or he could have taken the match into the fifth set.”



Despite a 2-0 deficit, Aqeel is still upbeat about Pakistan’s chances. “We haven’t lost the tie yet, we are still in a fighting position,” he said.

Aqeel said that fatigue and hot weather have affected the Chinese team, and with him and Aisamul Haq Qureshi expected to take to the field on day two, it may not all be smooth sailing for the visitors.

“The Chinese were struggling; they aren’t used to hot weather conditions like what we have in Colombo,” he said. “We’ll benefit from that on day two. Aisam didn’t play in the singles, but I’ll be supporting him in the doubles rubber. We chose Colombo as the neutral venue primarily because we wanted the Chinese to be out of their comfort zone.”



He said that that playing a home tie at a neutral venue is also a disadvantage for Pakistan, and the result could have been different had the tie taken place on the grass courts of Lahore.

If Pakistan were to lose the tie against China, they will play against the loser of the tie between Korea and New Zealand in a bid to stay in Group I, where they are playing after nine years.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2016.

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