Artem Sitak is tormented by the Ukraine war ahead of New Zealand's Davis Cup tie against Uruguay. Video / NZ Herald
Tomorrow's Davis Cup doubles rubber against Uruguay in Las Vegas shapes as the biggest in recent memory for New Zealand.
Rubin Statham's opening day singles win over Ignacio Carou has given New Zealand a chance of winning the World Group 1 Playoff tie.
New Zealand and Uruguay are level at 1-1 after the opening day with Uruguay's number one Pablo Cuevas beating Kiwi number two Ajeet Rai 6-4 6-2 in the second singles rubber after Statham had given New Zealand the best possible start with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Carou in the opening match.
World doubles number 15 Michael Venus and Artem Sitak will team up against Carou and Ariel Behar, where victory for the Kiwi combination would put them 2-1 up ahead of the reverse singles.
Captain Kelly Evernden was satisfied with the situation and confident New Zealand would win the doubles.
"Regardless of the team Uruguay put out there I think we have a little bit of an advantage there," Evernden said.
He thinks Uruguay could swap Carou with Cuevas. Teams can change their combination up to an hour before the match.
"Mike is one of the premier doubles players on the planet right now and he has proven that with his results over the years. He's not going to get shaken, he's not going to get rattled and he's playing with a guy like Artem. I think they are going to be okay and go out and do a job to put us up 2-1."
Cuevas was always going to be a strong favourite against Rai. The Uruguayan has won six ATP singles titles, has been ranked as high as 19 in the world (in 2016) and even at 36 years old, is still ranked 106 compared to Rai's ranking of 918.
Still, the Kiwi more than held his own in the first set, serving big and trying to shorten the points with Cuevas, a classic clay courter, dominant in the longer rallies from the baseline.
Rai held serve until the ninth game when his first serve percentage dropped and Cuevas was able to put him under pressure, breaking and then closing out the set. The Uruguayan showed his class immediately in the second set, breaking Rai in the opening game and at 2-0 looked to be heading for an easy win.
But Rai showed some resolve and, after holding serve with an aggressive return game, was able to break back to level at 2-2. He then raced to 40—0 in the next game but wasn't able to close it out and was broken. It proved decisive as Cuevas was able to run away with the match.
Rubin Statham completed a comfortable victory in his opening singles tie against Uruguay. Photo / NZ Tennis
Statham earlier played superbly to win the first point for New Zealand. He broke serve in the fifth game of the first set and went on to take it 6-4 in 39 minutes in windy conditions. His opponent, 23-year-old Carou, had been a late replacement for Uruguay number two Martin Cuevas, who was struck down with Covid-19 during the week.
Carou, ranked 698 in the world, was no match from the back of the court for Statham who coped better with the conditions and served superbly throughout.
The veteran Kiwi, who is New Zealand's most capped Davis Cup player of all time in his 33rd tie, took control early in the second set, going up a double break, and he went on to complete a comfortable victory in an hour and 19 minutes.
Play is due to start at 6am Sunday with the doubles followed by the reverse singles matches pitting Statham against Cuevas and - if locked at 2-2 - Rai to play Carou in a deciding singles rubber.
The winner of the World Group 1 playoff tie advances to September's World Group qualifiers while the loser is relegated to World Group 2.
