Kukushin keeps Kazakhstan’s Davis Cup hopes alive

Kazakhstan’s topranked tennis player, Mijail Kukushkin, said he was hopeful of overcoming the knockout round of the Davis Cup against Italy after finishing the first round with a tie.

Kukushkin beat Simone Bolelli 76 (6), 61, 62 and Italian Andreas Seppi restored parity by defeating Andrey Golubev 63, 63, 67 (5) 6 2, another hotly contested match at the National Tennis center in Astana.

“I don’t know what would have happened if I had lost the first set. Maybe I would have been able to fight back and win the match, but who knows. The tie break was really important and I managed to play aggressively. Perhaps, this was the key to winning the match,” said Kukushkin.

Kukushkin is currently number 58 in the world and has always had a good showing in Davis Cup action.

Kazakhstan has reached the quarterfinals in three of the last four years.

Bolelli acknowledged that his serve was off and that Kukushkin deserved to win.

Thanks to Andreas Seppi, ranked 35 in the world, the current Davis Cup semifinalist Italy remains on equal footing with the Kazakhs.

“I am happy I have won against Andrey Golubev. It was very important as Bolelli lost to Kukushkin,” Andreas Seppi said.