John Doran, who didn't even realise he would be playing in the singles until the last minute, earned hero status by finally dispatching the tenacious challenge of 24-year-old Jonathan Printzlau to set the first day of the Davis Cup clash against Denmark alight at the Riverview Club last evening.

Only after a 3-1/2 hour battle of wits did the Dane succumb to the brilliance of the Irishman, 61 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (5-7) 6-4.

Doran, an 11th hour call up for the injured Scott Barron who broke down in a final practice session with a back injury, ironically found himself receiving court side treatment for an aggravated back injury when the match stood at four games all in the second set.

Had Doran capitalised on break-point opportunities he would have closed down the match earlier. He had break points for 4-2 in the third set but left Printzlau with an open court to take the game for 3-3. Two games later, Doran went love-30 up against serve but found Printzlau's resilience once more to the fore.

Two sets to one down Printzlau showed nerves of steel when facing no less than six break points to go 2-3 down instead of 1-4 in the fifth game of the fourth set.

"If he continues serving like that he can beat very good players," said Printzlau. "I thought it would be better for me when he was called in to deputise for Barron but I was mistaken."

Highly-ranked Kristian Pless predictably levelled the tie at one rubber all when containing a brave bid by Peter Clarke before emerging a 6-4 6-4 6-4 in one hour 35 minutes.

There was no doubting Clarke's ability to generally match the Dane off the ground but perhaps what separated them was Pless's ability to cut down on errors. Pless, an athletic operator, also had the edge on serve and he broke Clarke once in all three sets. However, it was tight in the seventh game of the first set when Pless just managed to break on advantage point.

The Dane perhaps had a more established knowledge of the court's geometry and generally seemed to have the danger covered. He broke again in the ninth game of the second set and again in the seventh game of the third set. Clarke, who had a wonderful tour in Australia this year, can still believe that his game is on the rise.

The doubles matches begin today at 3 p.m.

Singles: J Doran bt J Printzlau 6-1 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (5-7) 6-4; P Clarke lost to K Pless 4-6 4-6 46.