Rodionov seals victory

Austria wins Davis Cup thriller against Japan

Yuri Rodionov(Bild: GEPA)

Austria's Davis Cup team came back from a 1-2 deficit in Tokyo to win 3-2 away against Japan and advance to the second qualifying round. Jurij Rodionov and Lukas Neumayer scored the decisive points on Saturday. Neumayer evened the score after Alexander Erler/Lucas Miedler lost the doubles match with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Shintaro Mochizuki. Rodionov became the ÖTV hero, just like last year in Hungary, with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-0 victory over a struggling Yoshihito Nishioka.

After Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler lost 6-7(4), 7-6(7), 4-6 to outsiders Takeru Yuzuki/Yosuke Watanuki in Tokyo after 2 hours and 45 minutes, Neumayer, who was playing in place of Sebastian Ofner, had his back to the wall at 1-2. However, after a convincing performance, the Salzburg native clearly defeated the Japanese number one, Shintaro Mochizuki, 6:3, 6:3. Rodionov lost the first set in the final singles match, but kept his nerve. Austria is now on course to qualify for the Final 8 tournament in Bologna once again. The victory secured a home match on September 18/19 or 19/20 against Bulgaria or Belgium. This match will not be decided until Sunday.

Rodionov turned the match around
Rodionov was probably not particularly surprised that Japan also made a change to their lineup with Yoshihito Nishioka. Although the Lower Austrian managed to turn a 1-3 deficit into a 4-3 lead after losing his serve in the opening game, he had to concede his serve again at 40-0 to go 5-6 down. He failed to capitalize on a rebreak opportunity against the nimble Japanese player, and so the first set was lost after 54 minutes.

  The second set was over quickly after breaks to 3:1 and 5:1, and Nishioka showed signs of difficulty with his left leg. When the Japanese player took a medical timeout at 0:3 in the third set, an agitated ÖTV captain Jürgen Melzer spoke of a "mess." "We all know he has cramps," he said to the supervisor. A "medical timeout" is not provided for this. Rodionov, however, remained much cooler and played the match out confidently.

Neumayer: "I'm extremely proud of the performance."
Neumayer was in control against Mochizuki from the start. After a break to make it 3-2 and another to make it 6-3, the first set was history after 35 minutes. In the second set, the 23-year-old pulled away to 4-1, had to fend off the only break point against him at 2-4, and made it 5-2. Neumayer converted his second match point with an ace after 73 minutes.

  "I'm extremely proud of my performance," said Neumayer, who had already learned of his assignment the night before. Things could have gone either way in the second set. "Then I served really well in the last game," said the Salzburg native, who now has a 4-1 Davis Cup record.

Miedler: "The result hurts"
Miedler regretted the narrow defeat beforehand."The result hurts, of course. I think all four players performed at a high level. They served very well throughout the match. In the end, a few points against us made the difference," said the Lower Austrian about the narrow defeat.

The first set went to a tiebreak without a single break point. Erler/Miedler, who were clear favorites but were surprised by the hosts' playing strength, were already leading 3-1. But doubles specialists Yuzuki and Watanuki took the next four points to make it 5-3 and then took the first set point at 6-4 after 52 minutes. In the second set, Erler had to fend off the first break point at 1-2, but the match really got exciting at 5-6. The Japanese had two match points at 15:40 on Erler's serve, but the visitors saved themselves in the tiebreak. In the tiebreak, Erler/Miedler fell behind 3:5 and had to save the third match point at 6:7 after missing a set point. However, a good second serve by Miedler down the middle brought the score to 10:8 on the third set point. The second set alone lasted 64 minutes. In the decisive set, Erler had to give up his serve twice, and the break to 3:4 sealed the deal.

DAVIS CUP – Qualifying round, 1st round:
Japan – Austria (Tokyo, Ariake Coliseum, hard court) – Interim score 2:2

Friday:
Yosuke Watanuki – Sebastian Ofner 6:3,6:4
Shintaro Mochizuki – Jurij Rodionov 4:6, 5:7

Saturday:
Watanuki/Takeru Yuzuki – Alexander Erler/Lucas Miedler 7:6(4),6:7(8),6:4
Shintaro Mochizuki – Lukas Neumayer 6-3, 6-3
Yoshihito Nishioka – Jurij Rodionov 7:5, 1:6, 0:6