Dubai: The UAE had a disappointing start to their Group III Asia/Oceania Davis Cup Group B opener when they went down 0-3 to Iran in Tehran on Wednesday.
Facing Iran for the third time since they made their Davis Cup debut in 1993, the UAE lost both their singles and doubles at the Enghelab Sports Complex in the Iranian capital.
Hamad Abbas Al Janahi lost 1-6, 0-6 to Shahin Khaledan, while Omar Behroozian too encountered a similar fate against Anoosha Shahgholi. In the doubles, Mahmoud Nader Al Beloushi and young Abdul Rahman Al Janahi lost 2-6, 1-6 to Hamid Reza Nadaf and Omid Souri.
In the other Group B match, Lebanon put themselves as challengers with a 3-0 win over Singapore.
As per the new format of play, the UAE will next play Singapore with the winners facing a final tie on Saturday to decide on the two teams, who will be relegated to Group IV.
The UAE got promoted to Group III in 2012 after fluent wins against Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Turkmenistan in the round-robin stages followed by a win over Qatar in the play-off. The UAE’s best result was in 2002 when they finished third in Group III.
