It's advantage for hosts Thailand

Hosts Thailand gained the upper hand against Kuwait by winning the doubles to take a 2-1 lead in their Davis Cup second round tie at the LTAT National Tennis Centre yesterday.

After splitting the opening singles 1-1 on Friday, Thailand took a decisive lead when Pruchya Itsarow and Nuttanon Kadchapanan beat Mohammad Ghareeb and Hassan al-Mousa 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 6-3 in two hours and 53 minutes.

That means Thailand need only a point from today’s reverse singles, which will see Pruchya take on Ghareeb and Thai No 2 Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul face Abdulhameed al-Shatti. Truesport5 will beam live coverage from 10am onwards.

Thailand’s non-playing captain Graipetch Worasombat – a relieved man after seeing the Thai par live up to his expectations – is confident that Thailand will clinch the tie in the fifth rubber.

“After we took the first set, everything went our way as our service games were quite smooth. I think Pruchya has an advantage over Ghareeb. He is quite fit and never seems to lose steam,” the team skipper said. Pruchya said he is still in good shape even though he has played matches two days in a row. The teenager will have to keep calm in today’s highly anticipated match if the hosts are to win the tie. “I’m not exhausted at all as I have been training for this day for three months. Ghareeb hits high spin and serves big. I have to make him run as much as possible,” the Thai No 1 said. Nuttanon, who also teamed with Pruchya in the doubles win against Hong Kong in Phuket two months ago, was happy to accomplish the task given to him.

“I felt a bit stiff at the beginning but I raised the level of my game as the match wore on. I have to thank my partner to keep pushing me all the time,” the 20-year-old from Yala said.

Pruchya and Nuttanon quickly trailed 1-3 but fought back to break the next game for three games all in the opening set. Play proceeded on serve until the tiebreak, when the Thai duo proved more successful and took the first set pretty easily after over an hour of play.

In the second set, both teams served solidly and neither came close to getting a break during the first 11 games. Thailand earned the first break-point at 30-40 in the 12th and capitalised on the opportunity when al-Mousa buried a volley into the net.

Pruchya blasted a forehand winner to break Kuwait for a 3-1 lead and had two match points at 5-2 on the Kuwait serve in the third. The Thai No 1 served out for the match in the next game, which was over when al-Mousa’s return hit the net.

“We went up a break at 3-1 but they served well and played aggressively. It could have made a difference if we held on to that break,” the 33-year-old Ghareeb said.

“I hope my team will recover to win the remaining rubbers. We will try our best and hope luck will be on our side,” al-Mousa said.