Tennis: Swinging fortunes before triumph in tennis decider

New Zealand survived a thrilling climax to win their Davis Cup tennis tie 3-2 against South Korea in Seoul last night.

Alistair Hunt stepped up when it counted most to win the deciding rubber in a reverse singles match which lasted nearly four hours.

The big-serving Cantabrian persevered 6-1 6-7 7-6 6-7 6-4 over Seung-Bok Baek in a match that proved to be the decider in the Asia-Oceania first-round tie.

Hunt came from a break down in the fifth set to level at 4-all. He then held serve for 5-4 and then broke again to win the match.

South Korea had squared the tie 2-2 when world No 58 Hyung-Taik Lee dismantled Mark Nielsen 6-0 6-1 7-6 (7-4).

Nielsen was outclassed by Lee, who was dominant from the start, making a series of backhand passes whenever Nielsen approached the net while hitting great volleys at net on his own service games.

New Zealand will now prepare for their second round Asia-Oceania tie against either Uzbekistan or Indonesia in Invercargill in April.

- NZPA