The visitors, who lost the tie 3-0 on Saturday, won the remaining two Sunday fixtures, which tropical rain had delayed for almost two hours.

Toshihide Matsui broke the ice for Japan by outplaying Sanchai Ratiwatana 6-3, 6-4 in the fourth match before Gouichi Motomura hammered Sonchat Ratiwatana 6-1, 6-1.

"He played a lot better than when I met him in Dharwad three years ago where I beat him in two sets. I didn't serve well today and didn't take my chances when I had two break points at the beginning of the second set," said Sanchai, who claimed he only practised for the doubles last week.

"I tried to stick to my game plan by moving to the net but Motomura came up with good passing shots and his lobs worked 100 per cent today. There was nothing I could do," said Sonchat, the elder brother. Thai captain Thanakorn Srichaphan accepted that Toshihide and Motomura were the better players.

"As we had already won the tie, I wanted the twins to gain singles experience as they might have to play if there are injuries. They are second to the Japanese players in terms of tactics and experience," said Thanakorn, the older brother of Paradorn Srichaphan.

Despite already seeing their nationals lose the contest, around 50 Japanese supporters appeared to cheer their countrymen. Toshihide, with better court coverage, secured an early break in the second game to quickly establish a lead at 3-0, which sent him through the first set.

The 350th-ranked Japanese player made frantic chases, running from corner to corner to return everything to Sanchai in the fifth game of the second set. It paid dividends as he broke the Thai for a 3-2 lead to cheer the Japanese support. The match was decided on serves from that point before Toshihide wrapped up the match with an ace.

Sonchat offered little challenge to the veteran Motomura, who relied on his experience to dictate play.

The Japanese player conceded only a game per set to the erratic Thai to win the match in less than an hour.

The 16-nation draw for September's World Group play-offs, which will also include the eight losers of February's World Group first-round ties, will take place in London this Wednesday.