Tennis: Nielsen heroics rescue NZ

CHRISTCHURCH - Mark Nielsen exorcised his own personal demons and overcame a tenacious opponent to carry New Zealand to their 3-2 Davis Cup Asia-Oceania tennis victory over South Korea yesterday.

Down 1-3 in the third set after losing the second, Nielsen looked likely to succumb to South Korean rookie Hyeong-Keun Song.

But it was a measure of his growing maturity that he recovered to win 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4, recording the most important of his five successes in six Cup singles.

The 21-year-old Nielsen crumbled against South Korean No 1 Hyung-Taik Lee on Friday, and was facing an even greater crisis in the tie's must-win final match.

New Zealand started the final day with a 2-1 advantage, thanks to Brett Steven and James Greenhalgh winning Saturday's doubles 6-4 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-2).

But a quad muscle problem forced Steven's withdrawal from the reverse singles, and the Koreans levelled with Lee's 6-3 6-4 6-0 demolition of Alistair Hunt, leaving Nielsen and Song to decide which country would advance to the world group qualifying round in September.

Admitting to nervousness in his first home tie, Nielsen began promisingly with a break in the fourth game only to drop his own serve in the next. But he surged ahead again at 5-3 and served out for the set.

However, Song replied in kind in the second set, and the situation was ominous when Song gained a second consecutive service break to open the third set.

"I told myself I had to start playing better, that I needed to win," said Nielsen. "It was important for me to move a lot faster and be a bit more aggressive."

He sought inspiration from his first-day defeat, reminding himself he "didn't want to play like that again."

At 2-3 down, Nielsen was given respite when Song slipped, grazed a finger and called an injury break. Song won the next point but appeared to be distracted and dropped that service and his next.

"I guess I smelt a little bit of blood. It's difficult when you get hurt, even if it's a little scratch, to play the next couple of points well. I tried to make the most of it."

By now having much the better of a match dominated by long backline rallies, Nielsen made the vital fourth-set break in the fifth game. Song later saved one match point as he struggled to hold serve at 3-5 but was given no chance to break back.

Team captain Jeff Simpson agreed the result could be significant as Nielsen seeks to establish himself in Davis Cup tennis as Steven's heir apparent.

"Mark sometimes gets very down on himself and that's very destructive for him. But the team today didn't let him get down. We tried to keep him going, keep him very positive, and he reacted in a positive way." - NZPA