John Millman came from a set and break down to beat Thiago Seyboth Wild 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-2 to give Australia a 2-0 lead over Brazil after the opening singles in their Davis Cup qualifier on Friday.
Jordan Thompson had earlier given Australia the lead with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Thiago Monteiro on hard courts at Memorial Drive.
Millman trailed Seyboth Wild 5-2 in the opening set before play was stopped for 25 minutes for a medical emergency in the crowd. In the second set, Seyboth Wild, who won his first ATP title last week at the Chile Open, broke Millman's serve in the fifth game and saved two break points in the next.
At 5-4 and serving for the match, the Brazilian saved two more break points before Millman converted a third to level at 5-5 and later was perfect in the tiebreaker.
Australia is playing without its two top-ranked players. Nick Kyrgios has a left wrist injury that forced him out of a tournament in Mexico and Alex De Minaur aggravated an abdominal injury which sidelined him for last month’s Australian Open.
On Saturday, the doubles match will feature the Australian pair of James Duckworth and John Peers against Marcelo Demoliner and Felipe Meligeni Rodrigues Alves, followed by the reverse singles
In an apparent attempt to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, ball boys and ball girls did not provide towels to players during games Friday. The towels were left behind advertising signs at the end of each court, with players able to wipe perspiration from the face and arms without the ball persons having to handle the towels.
The International Tennis Federation said in a statement to The Associated Press on Friday that the decision to have ball persons not handle player towels was being taken “event by event as the situation is specific to each country."
“The ITF has formed a working group to monitor the evolution of COVID-19 and is assessing further measures on a daily basis," it said in a statement. “The ITF has asked the referee at each Davis Cup tie to discuss and decide on court procedures such as handling towels with the local organizers."
The winner advances to the Davis Cup Final in Madrid in November.
