Japan, Uzbekistan draw 1-1

A dehydrated Farrukh Dustov was forced to retire after taking a set off Kei Nishikori, leaving Uzbekistan and Japan tied at 1-1 in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania zone Group One second round tie on Friday. Earlier, 68th-ranked Denis Istomin had given Uzbekistan a kickstart, beating Tatsuma Ito 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the opener of the best-of-five contest. Istomin will team up with Murad Inoyatov in the doubles on Saturday against Nishikori and Go Soeda before two reverse singles matches on Sunday.