ISLAMABAD: Pakistan finished day one level on 1-1 in their Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Zone Group 1 tie against Uzbekistan, with the country’s most seasoned player Aqeel Khan outplaying Sanjar Faizyiev 6-7,6-4, 6-4 here on Friday. Pakistan’s only ATP player Aisamul Haq Qureshi, who was suffering from a viral, started the tie against world number 83 Denis Istomin. The first set showed precisely how tightly fought an affair this was about to me as a 6-6 finish led to a marathon tie-breaker that the visiting player bagged 18-17. Such was the amount of effort Aisam exerted in the first set that he had to retire hurt at 4-1 in the second set due to dehydration, leaving the visitors with a crucial 1-0 lead. But Aqeel made sure Pakistan ended the day on level terms after claiming the second rubber in two hours and 25 minutes. “Hats off to Aqeel as he rose to the occasion once again,” Aisam said. “It was a different game and I’m not used to playing singles at this level. This was Istomin, who has defeated Novak Djokovic, and he is ranked around 80 in the world. It was a tough match and prior to it I was told to take a week off because of a viral, but this is important and I had to play. It was also a little more humid in Islamabad than usual and I got dehydrated. Hopefully, I’ll be back for the doubles. That tie-break took everything out of me but Aqeel balanced it well.” Aisam admitted that Uzbekistan were the better team on paper and that they had several players to call upon, while Pakistan were heavily reliant on Aisam and Aqeel. “Uzbekistan are the favourites to win on paper,” said Aisam. “But we are going to give it our best.” The Davis Cup format has been changed this year and players have to win compete across three sets rather than the previous five-set version. Pakistan defeated South Korea 4-0 in the first round in February. Published in Daily Times, April 7th 2018.