By Alberto Amalfi | Saturday, July 18, 2015
Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth defeated Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov as host Australia cut Kazakhstan's lead to 2-1 in the Davis Cup quarterfinals.
Photo credit: Tennis Australia
A pair of veterans kept Australian Davis Cup hopes alive.
Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth defeated Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-2, as host Australia cut Kazakhstan's lead to 2-1 in the Davis Cup quarterfinals on the grass of Darwin.
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The day after young guns Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios both fell in singles, Hewitt—who holds Australian Davis Cup records for most total wins, most singles wins, most ties played and most years played—and the big-serving Groth delivered energy, intensity and a critical victory.
“Obviously we know what we had to do," Hewitt told Davis Cup.com. "I’ve been preparing for this match for quite a while and it was obviously tough circumstances after yesterday to try for everyone stay positive and believe that we can still get back into this tie. Grothy and I knew what we were capable of doing and we came out and played almost faultless tennis today.”
The Aussies broke twice to take the first set.
Groth and Hewitt broke Nedovyesov’s serve for a 5-4 second-set lead. Hewitt served for the set, but Golubev and Nedovyesov broke back. The home side controlled the tie break for a two-set lead.
"I felt pretty good," Groth said. "Especially when you are walking on court with a guy like Lleyton who has played so many of the pressure matches over a long, long time. I think the fact that he was out there with me gave me a lot of confidence.”
Kazakhstan captain Dias Doskarayev turns to Mikhail Kukushkin, who defeated Kokkinakis in the opening singles, in Sunday's first reverse singles. Nedovyesov is scheduled to play the fifth singles, if necessary.
“Our guys are experienced enough to understand these kind of things," Doskarayev said. "Historically there have been a lot of matches when teams have been up 2-0. It is just a matter of staying confident. There is no panic in our team. We just have to play one point at a time. I am very confident in our guys.”
Australian captain Wally Masur may opt to play Hewitt or Groth or both in the reverse singles. Masur said he will consult with his coaches before making a final decision on the singles starters for Sunday, but suggested the performance of his veterans today could earn them both the start tomorrow.
“I’ve got to sit down with (coach) Josh Eagle and call Tony Roche and we’ve got some decisions to make," Masur said. "Form and confidence is important and I was really impressed with these two guys today. They had great clarity. They knew exactly what they had to do. Our backs were against the wall and it was a really good team effort, so I do have some decisions to make based on the results over the weekend and hopefully we get it right.”
The winner of the Australia vs. Kazakhstan quarterfinal will play the winner of the quarterfinal between Great Britain and France in September's World Group semifinals.