Davis Cup World Group Qualifying Wrap-Up

Australia leads Morocco 2-0
Lleyton Hewitt became Australia's winningest Davis Cup singles player Friday after beating Morocco's Mehdi Tahiri to lead Australia to a 2-0 advantage. Hewitt's 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 win followed a shaky 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-3 victory by Australia's Wayne "The Serving Machine" Arthurs over the unheralded Mounir El Aarej. "I haven't played a Davis Cup singles match for two years and I came out a little nervous," Arthurs said. "I was probably fortunate to win that first set...It's always very difficult to play someone you haven't seen. You never know what they're going to throw at you. It was pretty ugly. My tennis was not the purest I've every played." Top Moroccan players Younes El Aynaoui and Hicham Arazi bowed out with injuries, but in the case of Arazi it appeared he wanted more money to represent Morocco than his federation was willing to give. Look for Arthurs and Todd Woodbridge to clinch Australia's ticket back into the World Group in the Saturday doubles.

Romania Leads Canada 2-0
As expected on their home slow red clay, Romania took a 2-0 lead over Canada, but their Friday opener was not as easy as expected. Andrei Pavel, rebounding from a bad back that forced him to pull out of the US Open, rolled over Simon Larose 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 in the opener. But in the second singles, Canadian 19-year-old Frank Dancevic took a one set lead over Victor Hanescu before the Romanian held out for an almost three-hour 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win. "Our boys put up superior efforts. With a little luck we might have drawn even," said Davis Cup captain Martin Laurendeau. "We've got a big challenge ahead, but we have a group of warriors on this team. We'll take it one match at a time." In the Saturday doubles, Romania's Victor Ionita and Florin Mergea will be the underdogs against the experienced Canadian squad of Daniel Nestor and Frederic Niemeyer.

Russia Leads Thailand 2-0
Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan's claycourt Achilles' Heel was brought to the forefront Friday in Russia as the unheralded Igor Andreev rolled over the No. 20-ranked Thai 7-5, 6-2, 6-4. Marat Safin followed with a 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 win over Thai No. 2 Danai Udomchoke to put Russia up 2-0. On Saturday Russia will look to clinch the tie when Safin and Mikhail Youzhny team against Thailand's version of the Bryan brothers in Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana, who are 1-0 career in Davis Cup zonal play. Russia was forced to play the World Group qualifying round after they were knocked out of this year's World Group main draw in the first round by Max "The Beast" Mirnyi and Belarus.

Germany and Slovak Republic Tied 1-1
Germany and the Slovak Republic are tied at 1-1 after the first day of play during their Davis Cup qualifying tie on hardcourt in the Slovak Republic. Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty rode the wave of crowd support in a neat 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 romp over German Cup neophyte Florian "Oscar" Mayer, but German No. 1 Tommy Haas followed with a win, rebounding from a first-set setback to triumph 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-1, 6-1. Last year Germany was stunned by Belarus in the World Cup qualifier, plunging them into zonal play this year. The Slovaks are also looking to advance out of zonal play into the World group for 2005. The Saturday doubles schedule is The Dominator and Karol Beck for the Slovaks against Haas and Alexander Waske for Germany.

Czech Republic Leads Paraguay 2-0
Paraguay blew two chances Friday on their home claycourts. In the first match Paraguay's Paulo Carvallo, who has no ATP Ranking, led Jiri Novak one set to love before losing in four, then Ramon Delgado led Tomas Berdych 2-0 in sets before failing in five. Paraguay will try and get on the board Saturday when Delgado and Francisco Rodriguez face Czechs Novak and Radek Stepanek.

Chile Leads Japan 2-0
Chile pounded away to a 2-0 lead on their home red clay against the Japanese when Nicolas "The Golden Child" Massu lost only three games against Gouichi Motomura, and Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez beat Takao Suziki in straight sets. The Chileans will clinch on Saturday when the gold medal Chileans Massu/Gonzo face sheep-led-to-the-slaughter Thomas Shimada/Takahiro Tarachi.

Croatia Leads Belgium 2-0
Without Xavier "X-Man" Malisse or Christophe "The Roach" Rochus, Belgium quickly fell behind 0-2 Friday when Ivan Ljubicic beat Giles Elseneer, and Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic dismissed Olivier Rochus, both in straight sets. Ljubicic and Baby Goran will try and seal the deal Saturday against Dick Norman and Kristof Vliegen for Belgium.

Britain and Austria Tied 0-0
Lots of rain in Austria Friday, so both the singles and doubles will be contested on Saturday if the weather holds.