All square in Davis Cup tie between NZ and Jamaica

New Zealand and Jamaica are all level at the end of the first day of the Davis Cup tie at the Eric Bell National Tennis Centre in Kingston.

Following Jack Loutit’s huge 3-6 6-2 6-1 win over Jamaica’s No 1 Blaise Bicknell in this World Group II playoff, KP Pannu lost to Rowland Phillips 6-3 3-6 6-3 in another match that went the distance.

Despite not having a world ranking, Phillips, who is an assistant coach at the University of North Florida, immediately showed that he was going to be a tough proposition for Pannu, with his aggressive style and big serve.

Pannu was broken in the seventh game of the opening set and Phillips held his nerve for the remainder of it.

But Pannu responded by getting a break in the first game of the next set and although further breaks were swapped midway through it, the rubber went to a deciding set.

There was an intense battle when Pannu was serving at 2-2, with Phillips having break points. Pannu showed immense resilience to dig in and try to hold serve, but Phillips stayed in the fight and ripped a forehand return down the line to get the break.

Pannu was down 15-40 two games later but fought his way back to get the hold, however Phillips kept going for big returns and got another break when Pannu was serving a 3-5.

Saturday’s results mean New Zealand will need to two of the three rubbers on Sunday (Monday NZ) time to earn a place in the World Group II tie in September and consign Jamaica to Group III.

The second day of play starts with the doubles, where Finn Reynolds and Ajeet Rai are scheduled to take on Bicknell and John Chin. This rubber is followed by the reverse singles. However, both captains have the option to alter their lineups for the remaining rubbers.