New Zealand have made a bad start to their World Group II Davis Cup tie against Luxembourg in Palmerston North.
The home side is down 2-0 after the first day's play on Saturday at Fly Palmy Arena as KP Pannu lost the first match in just under three hours 6-1 6-7(8) 7-5 to Alex Knaff despite showing plenty of fight.
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The 27-year-old New Zealander continually battled back from being in tough positions, saving two match points in the second set.
However, he was not able to do it one more time at the end of the third set, when he was broken while serving at 5-6.
In the second match, Ajeet Rai was defeated 6-2 6-4 by Luxembourg’s No 1 player Chris Rodesch.
Rodesch proved to be too sharp on the vital points and keeping Rai chasing throughout the match.
It means the New Zealand side, captained by Artem Sitak, need to win the doubles and both singles matches on Sunday to claim victory in the World Group II tie.
The doubles match is likely to feature experienced campaigner Rubin Statham, alongside new top-ranked Finn Reynolds, who should be a formidable pairing.
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