Pakistan reached the second round of their Davis Cup group, after securing a 3-2 win in a thrilling tie against hosts Lebanon on Monday. It was Aqeel Khan’s reverse-singles win over Karim Alayli that turned the tie in Pakistan’s favour on the third and final day, after star player Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi was unable to conquer his opponent Bassam Beidas. After showing great fight in the first set against Beidass, Qureshi was unable to sustain his performance and lost the match in straight sets (4-6, 1-6, 2-6) to make it 2-2 in the tie. Khan’s straight-sets win against Ayali [6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (4)], however, turned out to be the tie-clinching performance for Pakistan. The 32-year-old from Karachi, who is Pakistan’s number one, gave one of his best Davis Cup performances to carry his team through to the second round. Playing away from home after the International Tennis Federation’s decision to switch the tie to Lebanon on security basis, Pakistan struggled against the Lebanese number one, Beidas and on the clay surfaces of the ATCL Club in Jounieh. Having progressed into the next round of the Asia/Oceania Group-II, Pakistan will now face Philippines, who swept aside Pacific Oceania 5-0. As per regulations, the tie should be scheduled in Pakistan, who have not played at home in over four years. The decision, however, lies with the ITF and the visiting team. At the start of the third day, Pakistan held a 2-1 edge over the hosts after having one the doubles match on Sunday. The four-hour-five-minute match saw Qureshi and Khan beat Beidass and Patrik Chucri 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in a historic, 50th Davis Cup win for Qureshi. Earlier, Pakistan saw mixed results in the singles matches, where taking a lead through Qureshi (beat Ayali 6-4, 6-3, 6-0) they were tied at 1-1 as Khan lost his match against Beidas (1-6, 3-6, 2-6).
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