By Alberto Amalfi | Friday, July 17, 2015
Aleksandr Nedovyesov defeated Nick Kyrgios to stake Kazakhstan to a 2-0 lead over host Australia in the Davis Cup quarterfinals.
Photo credit: SMP Images/Davis Cup
Kazakhstan turned the grass of Darwin into a launching pad for its Davis Cup dreams.
World No. 115 Aleksandr Nedovyesov defeated Australian Nick Kyrgios, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-4 to give Kazakhstan a commanding 2-0 lead over host Australia in this Davis Cup quarterfinal.
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"All credit to him. He served well and I wasn’t playing my best tennis out there," Kyrgios told Davis Cup.com afterward. "Personally I don’t think I was mentally ready. Physically I was okay, my body was good, but mentally I almost felt a bit drained out there. It was hard to focus, it was hard to really dig deep, push myself. There was lots going on and the more I experience it the better I will get at it.”
Mikhail Kukushkin opened the tie overwhelming Thanasi Kokkinakis, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. Deadlocked at 3-3 in the second set, Kukushkin broke for 4-3, running out the final three games of the set for a two-set lead. Kukushkin, who took the court with a 4-13 career record on grass, reeled off 12 straight points to open the third set and runaway with the victory.
“I think it was a better surface for me than for my opponent," the 27-year-old Kukushkin said. "The score looks easy but it was a tough match."
Australia will try to keep hope alive in Saturday's doubles with former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt scheduled to partner Sam Groth against the scheduled Kazakh team of Andrey Golubev and Nedovyesov.
“It is another fantastic day for us. We do understand that there is a lot of work to do ahead of us, we just – I am saying just but it means a lot, a lot—we just need one more win but it is just one point at a time for us," Nedovyesov told Davis Cup.com. "We had really good preparation here in Darwin. We had a little advantage over the Aussie guys coming into Darwin a little bit earlier.
"We’ve got everything we could dream of—fitness coaches, physios, coaches—everything so we can perform as good as we can do. We will decide tomorrow who will be playing doubles. We have a few teams that can play but I am feeling confident so if I am selected I will be ready.”