The inexperienced duo of Yasutaka Uchiyama and Yoshihito Nishioka dropped Saturday's doubles rubber in four sets to leave Japan one loss from elimination in its Davis Cup World Group Playoff against Colombia.
Uchiyama and 19-year-old Davis Cup debutant Nishioka, who have never played together before, lost to the veteran duo of Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, as host Colombia took a 2-1 lead after the two sides split Friday's singles.
"I'm not that good at doubles, but Uchiyama got the best out of me," Nishioka said. "Playing at altitude makes service returns difficult, and our opponents were strong."