Kazakhstan takes surprising 2-0 lead over Australia in Davis Cup

Kazakhstan stunned Australia in Friday’s opening singles in the Davis Cup quarterfinals, taking a 20 lead over the host squad.

The Australians opted to play the tie on grass at the Marrara Sporting Complex in the northern city of Darwin and rely on talented young hopefuls Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis, ranked No. 41 and No. 69, respectively.

But 27yearold Davis Cup veteran Mikhail Kukushkin, ranked No. 63, used his experience to cruise past Kokkinakis 64, 63, 63 before world No. 113 Aleksandr Nedovyesov stunned Kyrgios 76 (75), 67 (27), 76 (75), 64.

The 19yearold Kokkinakis, playing in only his second Davis Cup match and first before his home fans, was outclassed by the solid Kukushkin, who struck 22 ground stroke winners compared to just 12 for the Australian.

The second match was much more closely contested, with both men controlling their service games throughout the contest.

The players found themselves even at a set apiece after the first hour and 40 minutes of action, in which neither player had created a single breakpoint opportunity and they had split a pair of tiebreakers.

The third set was also nipandtuck, with the players exchanging one service break each before the 28yearold Nedovyesov seized the momentum against his 20yearold opponent by winning the third tiebreaker of the match.

The Kazakh, who played the more traditional grasscourt game, winning 35 points at the net compared to just 13 for Kyrgios, converted the lone breakpoint chance of the fourth set.

Kazakhstan, which competed in the Davis Cup’s World Group for the first time in 2011, will can book its firstever semifinal berth in Saturday’s doubles.

Australian veteran Lleyton Hewitt and bigserving Sam Groth will square off against Kazakhs Andrey Golubev and Nedovyesov in that match.

If the Australians stave off elimination on Saturday, the tie will come down to Sunday’s reverse singles.

Kazakhstan has reached the Davis Cup quarterfinals on three occasions, most recently last year, when it led eventual champion Switzerland 21 before Kukushkin and Golubev lost the final two singles matches to Stanislas Wawrinka and Roger Federer.