brown salvages some pride for hk

The Philippines completed a 4-1 rout of Hong Kong after they shared the two reverse singles in Manila yesterday. The Davis Cup Asia Oceania Zone Group Two relegation playoff tie was only of academic interest on the last day with the hosts already having clinched victory by winning the opening singles and the doubles.

Yu Hiu-tung suffered his second consecutive singles loss when he lost the first reverse singles to Patrick Tierro 6-4, 6-3. Michael Brown then won the last match after his opponent Joseph Victorino retired with Brown lading 3-6, 6-3, 1-0.

The defeat will see Hong Kong descend to Group Three next year. It will be the first time since 1999 that Hong Kong will play in Group Three, just one notch above the lowest tier in Asia.