Tennis: New Zealand draw Uzbekistan

New Zealand face a daunting trip away to Uzbekistan in their first round Asia/Oceania group one tennis tie next year.

It was just about the worst possible scenario for the New Zealanders, who won promotion from group two with a defeat of Thailand last week.

Uzbekistan, who are headed by world No 42 Denis Istomin, are one of two seeded teams in the seven-team group. The others are Australia.

The draw in Brussels this morning (NZT) put New Zealand and Uzbekistan on the same side of the draw as the Philippines and Japan. Regardless of whether they win or lose, the New Zealanders will be at home for their second-round tie in July.

New Zealand have lost their two previous ties against Uzbekistan - both group one semifinals. They went down 3-2 in Invercargill in 2001 and 4-1 in Tashkent the year before.

On the other side of the draw, Chinese Taipei face China while top seeds Australia have a bye.

- NZPA