Uzbekistan have taken an unbeatable 3-0 led in their Davis Cup tennis tie against New Zealand in Tauranga with a straight-sets victory in the doubles.
Denis Istomin and Farrukh Dustov beat Michael Venus and Dan King-Turner 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 on Saturday to wrap up the Asia/Pacific Group One round-one tie for the visitors.
Venus and King-Turner had their moments.
They dropped serve only once in the opening set and lost a tight tiebreak in the second.
In the third set, they had Istomin, the world No.58, down 0-40 on his serve, but couldn't convert any of the four break points they had in that game to pull themselves back to 2-3.
New Zealand captain Marcel Vos was philosophical about the result.
"We were always the underdogs going into this tie," he said.
"Obviously, with Istomin, it was tough, but we had to believe we could do this. I think the boys came out pretty good."
NZN