Straight sets wins for Lleyton Hewitt and Bernard Tomic Friday gave Australia a 2-0 lead over China in their best-of-five Davis Cup tie. Veteran two-time grand slam winner Hewitt beat China's top-ranked men's player Zhang Ze, while Tomic saw off rising youngster Wu Di in the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I first round tie. “One day I hopefully can win the Davis Cup,” said Tomic, 19, after his 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 victory over world number 502 Wu at the Geelong Lawn Tennis Club. Hewitt defeated Zhang 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) and will now hope to win the tie when he partners Chris Guccione in the doubles on Saturday. In Tokyo, Ivo Karlovic came to his side's rescue Friday, beating Japanese No. 1 Kei Nishikori as Croatia evened out the tie. Croatia's No. 3 Karlovic fired down 18 aces on his way to a straightforward 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 victory in the second singles rubber. The 22-year-old Nishikori did not have a single breakpoint throughout the 109-minute match. Earlier in the day, Japanese No. 2 Go Soeda caused a stir when he stormed back from two sets down to beat Ivan Dodig 6-7 (3/7), 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 in an opener that lasted four hours and five minutes. In Tauranga, New Zealand, Uzbekistan's Davis Cup team took an early stranglehold in its tie against New Zealand in Tauranga, convincingly winning the first two rubbers to open up a 2-0 lead. World No. 58 Denis Istomin cruised past Rubin Statham 6-1, 6-1, 6-3, taking barely 90 minutes to dispose of a player almost 500 places below him in the men's tour rankings. Farrukh Dustov had a slightly tougher assignment against Michael Venus, coming back from a set down to win 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. In Gimcheon, South Korea upset higher-ranked Taiwan to take the first two rubbers to open a 2-0 lead in the Asia-Oceania zone Group I first round. Lim Yong-Kyu, ranked 288th and nicknamed “Monster” for his enduring stamina, came from a 2-0 deficit to defeat world number 273 Ti Chen, 5-7, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-4. The second singles tie saw a stunning victory for South Korea as world number 793 Jeong Suk-Young triumphed over Tsung-hua Yang, ranked 177th.
