Hewitt Stars For Australia; Bellucci Saves 2 M.P. To Give Brazil Lead

© AFP/Getty ImagesLleyton Hewitt, an Australian Davis Cup stalwart, celebrates his win on Friday.

AUSTRALIA level with BELGIUM 1-1
Venue: Cairns Regional Tennis Centre, Cairns, Australia (hard – outdoors)

Lleyton Hewitt joined Adrian Quist for most Davis Cup match wins for Australia on Friday when he got the host nation off to a perfect start in its Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group play-off tie against Belgium in Cairns.

Hewitt recorded his 43rd Davis Cup match win with a 7-6(4), 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 win over World No. 191 Ruben Bemelmans, a last minute replacement for Steve Darcis who pulled out with a torn rotator cuff just one hour before the start of the singles rubber.

World No. 79 Olivier Rochus got Belgium back to 1-1 with a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(5) win over 23-year-old Australian Carsten Ball in almost two and a half hours. It was Ball’s first defeat in seven rubbers.

ISRAEL leads AUSTRIA 2-1
Venue: Nokia Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel (hard – indoors)

Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram extended their Davis Cup record to 13-4 after giving Israel a 2-1 lead over Austria in Tel Aviv after beating Jurgen Melzer and Alexander Peya 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-4. Melzer’s regular Davis Cup doubles partner Julian Knowle is missing the tie due to an abdominal injury.

DEUCE Magazine (August 2010): Melzer - Jurgen's Journey

BRAZIL leads INDIA 2-0
Venue: SDAT Tennis Stadium, Chennai, India (hard – outdoors)

World No. 28 Thomaz Bellucci saved two match points against Indian Rohan Bopanna, currently No. 479 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings, for a 6-7(2), 7-6(7), 7-5, 4-6, 10-8 win in four hours and 28 minutes to give Brazil a 1-0 lead.

Bopanna, one half of "The Indo-Pak Express" that finished as runners up to the Bryan brothers in the US Open doubles final, broke Bellucci in the fourth game of the deciding set for a 5-2 lead. Bellucci saved two match points on serve in the eighth game and went on to break Bopanna's serve to love in the 17th game.

DEUCE Magazine (May 2010): Bellucci - On The Rise... | Bopanna - Bridging A Great Divide

India suffered another five-set heartbreak in the second singles rubber on day one, when Ricardo Mello recovered from two-sets-to-one down to beat Somdev Devvarman of India 4-6, 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-4.

KAZAKHSTAN leads SWITZERLAND 2-0
Venue: The National Tennis Centre, Astana, Kazakhstan (hard – indoors)

Andrey Golubev and Mikhail Kukushkin have given Kazakhstan a surprise 2-0 lead in its World Group play-off tie against Switzerland. Golubev struck 13 aces past Swiss Marco Chiudinelli 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, while Kukushkin withstood 17 aces from the racquet of Stanislas Wawrinka to record a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory in three hours and 30 minutes.