Astana, Kazakhstan (Sports Network) - Andrey Golubev lifted Kazakhstan into
the Davis Cup quarterfinals with a four-set victory over Austria's Jurgen
Melzer on Sunday.
The Austrians stayed alive Saturday after a doubles victory from Julian Knowle
and Alexander Peya, and Melzer kept the momentum going by winning the first
set Sunday, but Golubev quickly regrouped and captured a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
win to give Kazakhstan an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five tie.
After the Kazakhs celebrated on the red clay of the National Tennis Centre,
the fifth rubber was not played.
Kazakhstan advanced to the quarterfinals for the second time in three years.
In 2011, the Kazakhs beat the Czech Republic in the first round before being
swept by Argentina in the quarterfinals.
The Czechs could be Kazakhstan's quarterfinal opponent in April, but only if
they can get past Switzerland in their first-round tie.
Golubev played all three days this weekend, winning his singles match Friday
against Andreas Haider-Maurer to open the proceedings. Evgeny Korolev then
followed with a singles win over Melzer to give Kazakhstan a 2-0 lead heading
into Saturday.
Knowle and Peya posted a straight-set doubles win Saturday over the Kazakh duo
of Golubev and Yuriy Schukin to stave off elimination, but only for a day. The
Austrians lost in the first round for the second time in three years. They
reached the quarterfinals last year, beating Russia in the first round before
falling to Spain.
The Sports Network