Victoria Azarenka beat Masaki Doi 6-1, 6-2 on in the opening singles match Saturday before Japan came back to draw level 1-1 with Belarus in their Fed Cup World Group playoff.
Kurumi Nara evened the best-of-five series with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win over Olga Govortsova.
Azarenka took the opening set in just 25 minutes, winning the first five games before Doi finally held serve.
Azarenka took a 3-0 lead in the second before Doi earned her first break. But Azarenka broke right back for 4-1, then clinched the match after 1 hour, 8 minutes.
Nara plays Azarenka in the first reverse singles match on Sunday, with Doi and Govortsova scheduled to meet in the second match.
The doubles will feature Shuko Aoyama and Ayumi Morita against Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Vera Lapko.
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