After winning the two singles on Friday, Pakistan’s doubles pair of Aisam-ul-Haq and Aqeel Khan beat Malaysia’s scratch combination of Daramadi Jamal and Si Yew Meng 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 in two hours and 39 minutes.
Yew Meng replaced the injured Hazuan Hizan who hurt his right forearm in the opening singles match against Asim Shafik on Friday.
Pakistan’s coach, Rashid Malik, was surprised at the easy manner in which his charges secured the win over the Malaysians.
“Honestly I expected to win but never once did I think that the victory could be achieved with a day of play still remaining.
Pakistan will take on the winner of the Hong Kong versus Chinese Taipei tie.
CZECHS IN QUARTERS:
The Czech Republic took an unbeatable 3-0 lead over Brazil in their Davis Cup world group first-round tie after Saturday’s doubles.
Jiri Novak and David Rikl beat Andre Sa and Alexandre Simoni
6-4 6-3 7-5, adding to victories in both Friday’s singles. The Brazilians took a 4-1 lead in the first set after Novak lost his serve but the Czechs broke back twice to take the set and held the momentum for most of the rest of the game.
The Brazilians soon lost their opening drive and had to fight hard for their serves while the Czechs improved their returns and volleys.
The Brazilians revived a glimmer of hope in the third set but failed to take advantage of a breakpoint which would have given them a 5-4 lead.
The Czechs, who have been playing doubles tournaments together for six years, then swung back to full strength and took the first of three breakpoints for victory.
Simoni stood in for Fernando Meligeni who lost in straight sets to Bohdan Ulihrach in Friday’s second singles. Jiri Novak beat Sa in four sets in the first rubber.
The Brazilian side were weakened by the first Davis Cup absence since 1996 of Gustavo Kuerten, who is recovering from a right hip injury.
The home side also took advantage of the fast carpet court against the mostly clay-preferring Brazilians.
The Czechs will meet the winners of the France versus Netherlands tie in the second round in April. France were leading 2-0 after Friday’s singles.
US LEAD 2-0
Using a combination of youth and guile, the United States rode gutsy performances from Andy Roddick and Pete Sampras to forge a 2-0 lead over Slovakia in their first round Friday.
Sampras was forced to battle hard to overcome Karol Beck 6-3 6-7 6-1 7-5 in the opening rubber.
Then the 19-year-old Roddick had to calm his nerves and over-enthusiasm before coming though with a 6-4 6-4 6-7 7-6 victory over veteran Jan Kroslak.
Beck and Kroslak are ranked 268th and 269th in the world respectively.
Sporting a fine two-handed backhand down the line, a booming first serve and a deft crosscourt forehand, Beck was intent on keeping Sampras to the baseline in the opener.
But the American kept charging, exploiting the Slovak’s weak second serves, bullying his smaller opponent with huge first serves and taking control of the net.
It appeared the 30-year-old Sampras would cruise to victory, but in the second set, Beck grew more comfortable and began to find the range on his long groundstrokes.
Beck raised his game another notch in the second set tiebreaker, allowing Sampras only three points to even the match.
Sampras came out inspired in the third set, overwhelming his opponents with huge serves and crisp volleys.
Beck broke Sampras for the first time in the match in the fourth set to go ahead 3-2 with an inside-out forehand return winner.
The Slovak served for the set at 5-4, but under heavy pressure from Sampras, who kept charging the net, he missed a chance at a forehand winner and Sampras evened the set at 5-5.
Sampras then tightened the screw and closed out Beck with a series of fearsome strokes and watched Beck give the match away with a backhand error.
The Slovak veteran Kroslak attempted to unnerve the 19-year-old Roddick by mixing up the pace and depth of his shots.
In the end Kroslak was unable to keep up with Roddick’s powerful forehand and fresh legs, frequently faltering on his net rushes. Like Beck, Kroslak served remarkably well, crushing 22 aces.
Roddick appeared to have the match in hand in the third set tiebreaker when he roared ahead to a 5-1 lead, but then became too caught up in the wild cheering from the crowd and committed
In the fourth set, Roddick regrouped and continued to bludgeon Kroslak from the baseline with huge forehands, but the Slovak hung tough, counterpunching with intelligence.
In the tiebreaker, Roddick again raced ahead, but this time, he maintained his composure and won the contest with three straight forehand winners.
WORLD GROUP
Britain lead Sweden 2-1
Czech Republic lead Brazil 3-0
Croatia lead Germany 2-1
Russia lead Switzerland 2-1
Canada lead Mexico 2-0
US lead Slovakia 2-0
Spain lead Morocco 2-1
France lead Netherlands 2-1
Argentina lead Australia 2-0
ASIA/OCEANIA
Group One:
South Korea lead Japan 2-1
India beat Lebanon 2-0
Thailand beat Uzbekistan 2-1
New Zealand beat Indonesia 2-1
Group Two:
China lead Kuwait 2-1.—Reuters