Jamie Baker rises to challenge as Britain fight the drop

The world No253 claimed the opening singles match 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 to give Britain the perfect start to their Europe/Africa Zone II tie.

The victory was Baker's first in a live' Davis Cup match and was reward for his courage in battling back from a serious blood infection in Florida in 2008 which put him into intensive care for three days.

Now fully fit, Baker is starting to rise back up the rankings and this convincing win will give him confidence.

With the loser of this tie relegated to the third level of world tennis where minnows such as Andorra and San Marino await, the opening rubber was vital to Britian's hopes of avoiding that humiliation.

Baker, effectively the British No1 with Andy Murray and Alex Bogdanovic unavailable for this tie, was quickly into his stride against world No866 Zorlu and easily won the first set 6-1 with two breaks of serve.

Rather than collapsing, Zorlu suddenly unleashed a series of strong first serves backed up by a useful forehand which allowed the 25-year-old to at least stay in the set. But the Eastbourne grass courts soon exposed his lack of footwork, with the Turk's turning circle similar to that of a milk float.

Baker made the crucial break of serve in the seventh game with the help of a net cord and a powerful forehand down the line before claiming the second set 6-4.

Zorlu appeared unimpressed with his own shortcomings on the grass and his demeanour did not improve in the next set as he immediately lost serve.

Baker was soon 3-0 and cruising towards the most straightforward of victories to the delight of the home fans.

The Glasgow-born 23-year-old then won seven games in a row before Zorlu held for 1-4. Baker wasted four match points before wrapping up victory, but will have benefited from a week's practise on the Eastbourne courts.

He said: "It was really exciting to play and I had lots of nerves and a sleepless night but some early shots got me settled into the match."

Comprehensive though this victory was, few anticipated Zorlu to give Britain any kind of trouble in the tie.

Marsel Ilhan, however, will be dangerous. Comfortably the highest-ranked player on show, his match against James Ward today was expected to prove crucial to the outcome of the tie.
Flying start: Baker finds it easy today