CHINA WON BOTH of Saturday’s matches to take an early 2-0 lead against Ireland in their Davis Cup World Group II clash in Dublin.
Italian-born Peter Buldorini, making his Davis Cup debut for Ireland, faced a stiff opening challenge against world number 74 Bu Yunchaokete in the purpose-built arena at the Sport Ireland campus in Abbotstown.
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Despite being ranked more than 800 places below his opponent, Buldorini — whose mother is from Carrick-on-Shannon — made light of that gap in the opening set, narrowly going down 6-4 before Bu’s class told in a 6-1 second set.
The tie is being played in a purpose-built arena on the Sport Ireland campus. Andrew Conan / INPHO
Andrew Conan / INPHO / INPHO
It then fell to Irish number one Michael Agwi to try to turn the tide, and after dropping the opening set against Yi Zhou 6-1, the Dubliner battled back to win a second set tiebreaker and force Saturday’s second match to a decider.
Zhou, who sits more than 200 places above Agwi in the world rankings, was ruthless in the decider to win 6-0, putting China firmly on track to claim the World Group I play-off spot on offer.
The tie resumes on Sunday with a doubles clash as Conor Gannon and David O’Hare take on Jie Cui and Fajing Sun, before Agwi returns to the court to take on Bu, with Buldorini up against Zhou in the fifth and final match.
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China race into early Davis Cup advantage against Ireland
CHINA WON BOTH of Saturday’s matches to take an early 2-0 lead against Ireland in their Davis Cup World Group II clash in Dublin.
Italian-born Peter Buldorini, making his Davis Cup debut for Ireland, faced a stiff opening challenge against world number 74 Bu Yunchaokete in the purpose-built arena at the Sport Ireland campus in Abbotstown.
Despite being ranked more than 800 places below his opponent, Buldorini — whose mother is from Carrick-on-Shannon — made light of that gap in the opening set, narrowly going down 6-4 before Bu’s class told in a 6-1 second set.
It then fell to Irish number one Michael Agwi to try to turn the tide, and after dropping the opening set against Yi Zhou 6-1, the Dubliner battled back to win a second set tiebreaker and force Saturday’s second match to a decider.
Zhou, who sits more than 200 places above Agwi in the world rankings, was ruthless in the decider to win 6-0, putting China firmly on track to claim the World Group I play-off spot on offer.
The tie resumes on Sunday with a doubles clash as Conor Gannon and David O’Hare take on Jie Cui and Fajing Sun, before Agwi returns to the court to take on Bu, with Buldorini up against Zhou in the fifth and final match.
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Davis Cup Tennis