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Lleyton Hewitt recorded his 41st Davis Cup singles win and Nick Kyrgios his second as Australia took a two-nil lead over Uzbekistan in the World Group play-off in Perth on Friday.
Kyrgios opened the tie on the grass at the picturesque Cottesloe Tennis Club by easily dispatching world No.55 Denis Istomin 6-4 7-5 6-4.
The 19-year-old rising star of Australian tennis was hampered by an arm problem, while his opponent suffered a hip complaint.
Hewitt beat world No.133 Farrukh Dustov 6-4 6-4 6-2 on the back of winning 12 of the last 15 games after falling 3-0 down in the second set.
Australia needs to win just one more rubber to claim the tie and book a place in the World Group of the Davis Cup in 2015.
Hewitt, 33, will now set his sights on Saturday’s doubles where he will team up with Chris Guccione.
“It was the perfect start for me as well, to go out there and have the pressure on Dustov being one-nil down, with (Uzbekistan’s) better player already having lost,” Hewitt said.
“And now we have to finish it off. We’ll be doing everything in our power to do that tomorrow.
“I’m always keen to play so (captain) Pat (Rafter), myself, (coaches) Josh Eagle and Rochey (Tony Roche) will sit down later to work it out, but my body feels good and I think on this surface Gucc and I are pretty tough to beat.”
While Kyrgios was happy to beat Istomin, he wasn’t impressed with the Cottesloe court.
He said he hoped the tie is wrapped up in the doubles as he could not see the surface remaining playable by Sunday.
“It’s unpredictable near the baseline but that’s what grass courts are like, it’s not Wimbledon,” Kyrgios said.
“The court is more than capable to play on.”
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