Li Zhe and Wu Yibing emerged victorious in their singles matches Friday, giving China a 2-0 lead over Taiwan in the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I tie. Li, ranked 244th, won after a gruelling five-set match against Taiwanese veteran Chen Ti played in Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan. The cross-strait opponents battled it out over four hours and 36 minutes before Chen lost the last set 5-7 as he struggled with a leg injury.
It was also a leg injury that forced Taiwan's Jason Jung to abandon the fifth set in the second singles match against China's Wu. Jung, ranked 168th, had taken two earlier sets 6-4, 7-5, but cut the last set short trailing 1-4. Taiwan has not beaten China in almost a decade and it will have to win Saturday's doubles match to have any hope of advancing to April's promotion play-off against Kazakhstan. China's top player Wu Di is on the team roster but so far is not listed to play.
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