Tennis: Nielsen in hard slog to victory

Mark Nielsen had trouble yesterday with his backhand slice against Kyu-Tae Im at the North Shore Tennis Centre. Picture / Paul Estcourt

Mark Nielsen took over the role of the fabled tortoise as New Zealand clung on to their Davis Cup promotion hopes on the first day of the Oceania/Asia Group Two final against Korea.

The New Zealand No 1 was led a merry chase in the opening singles match against Kyu-Tae Im, falling two sets behind before finally discovering some composure and grinding out an exhausting 0-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 5-2 (retired) win.

But Korea struck back to square the tie at 1-1 in the second singles, Hyung-Taik Lee making quick work of New Zealand rookie and No 2 Dan King-Turner to win in straight sets (6-1, 7-6(5), 6-1).

The results are sure to heap extra pressure on this afternoon's doubles match at Albany, and will mean the Group Two final will still be up for grabs when the reverse singles rubbers begin tomorrow.

From the start the omens were not bright, Nielsen stalling at the start line and proving no match for the visiting No 2, who hared away with the first two sets and at one stage must have felt like putting his feet up for quick nap.

However, the turning point came deep in the third set when Im suffered a match-changing calf injury which restricted his mobility, allowing Nielsen to slowly but surely neutralise his advantage and steam back into contention.

It was a cruel blow for the Korean, who had outgunned Nielsen in the early stanzas, stroking backhand and forehand winners at will, and looking for all the world like a straight-sets winner.

But it was also a major triumph for Nielsen, given that he'd played poorly over the first 90 minutes and was so demoralised after being broken early in the second set that he turned to the bench and gestured helplessly to team captain Bruce Derlin.

For much of the duel he was his own worst enemy, making a stream of unforced errors and fluffing his lines at the net, lost opportunities that only fuelled his opponent's confidence and drained away his own.

However, when the chance arose to counter-attack he took it well enough, using his experience to keep the ball in play for as long as possible in an attempt to exploit his opponent's restricted court-coverage.

Nielsen said afterwards that the tension had taken its toll on him at the start, but that he was relieved to come out on top and set up the scene for today's all-important doubles.

"Tomorrow [today] is a big day for us now. We can expect another tough match, and if we're going to win, I'm picking we'll have to win in four or five."

As for the high rate of unforced errors, he had no explanation, saying it had been a huge frustration at the time and difficult to sort out in the pressure-cooker atmosphere of Davis Cup.

"I was hitting the ball in the middle but my timing was off, I made a lot of stupid errors around the net, and I was having problems with my backhand slice, which is something I normally never miss."

Today's doubles match starts at 12.30pm.