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Men's Tennis
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Women's Tennis
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| Saturday, February 10 |
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| Romania win doubles to lead Germany 2-1 Reuters | |||
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BRAUNSCHWEIG, Germany -- Andrei Pavel and
Gabriel Trifu beat Marc Goellner and David Prinosil 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
on Saturday to give outsiders Romania a 2-1 lead over Germany in
their Davis Cup world group tie.
Germany, which won the competition in 1988, 1989 and 1993,
must now win both of Sunday's reverse singles to survive the
first round.
One break in each set was all it took for the Romanian pair
to record a relative straightforward victory.
"It was simply not our day," said Germany captain Carl-Uwe
Steeb. "Marc and David never could find a way into the match."
The first set was tight with few opportunities to break
until Goellner, who looked nervous throughout the match, dropped
his serve in the 10th game.
Romania stayed on top, managing breaks in the third game of
the second set and the seventh game of the third before wrapping
it up with Goellner hitting a forehand long on match point.
"I am a bit surprised that it was so easy because Prinosil has
played brilliantly this year and the Germans have a very strong
pair," said Pavel, who has lived in Germany for 10 years.
"Being the favorites and the home side, they felt much more
pressure than we did. We were more relaxed."
While Goellner and Prinosil were far from their best, both
the Romanians impressed. Pavel is known to be a solid doubles
player, but Trifu also played a significant role, firing in
powerful serves and hitting some remarkable winners.
"We certainly didn't underestimate them," said Prinosil.
"They both played really well."
Tommy Haas had given the home side a 1-0 lead by crushing
Ion Moldovan in straight sets in Friday's opening singles, but
Pavel then beat Nicolas Kiefer in four sets to level the tie.
Romania's chances had been undermined on Tuesday when their
No. 2 player, Adrian Voinea, sustained a groin injury and had
to be replaced by Moldovan, who is outside the top 300 in the ATP
computer rankings.
Now Pavel could seal victory if he beats Haas in the first
of Sunday's reverse singles.
"I'm feeling good because the doubles didn't last too long,"
said Pavel. "Being able to face Haas with us in the lead is
certainly good for my confidence."
Kiefer is then expected to face Moldovan. | |
ALSO SEE Swiss win doubles, take 2-1 lead over U.S. in Davis Cup Ecuador upsets Australia in epic doubles match Brazil first team to reach quarterfinals Davis Cup results Haas crushes Moldovan while Kiefer falls Gambill pulls U.S. even against Switzerland | |
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