Korea strike first in Davis Cup tie

Korea has taken a 1-nil lead in the Davis Cup World Group 1 tie against New Zealand at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.

Korean number two Nam Jisung has proven too good for New Zealand number one Rubin Statham, winning 6-2 6-2 in 57 minutes.

Both players started well on serve but Statham made a couple of unforced errors in the 6^th game and Nam broke for a 4-2 lead. Statham had an immediate break back point in Nam’s next service game but couldn’t convert and the Kiwi dropped serve again as Nam took the opening set in 27 minutes.

Nam who has an ATP ranking of 341 held serve at the start of the second set and then broken Statham to take control of the match. Statham did get another break point chance with Nam serving at 4-2 but he couldn’t take it and Nam then broke to secure a convincing victory.

Finn Reynolds makes his debut for New Zealand in the second singles rubber against Korean number one Kwon Soowoon who is ranked 83^rd in the world.