Kazakhstan Edge Ahead After Shock Doubles Win

Kazakhstan took a shock 2-1 lead against Serbia in their Davis Cup by BNP Paribas first round tie after Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Andrey Golubev beat home crowd favourites Nenad Zimonjic and Novak Djokovic 63 76(3) 75 in Saturday’s doubles.
The result set up a pair of fascinating clashes on Sunday, when Djokovic takes on Mikhail Kukushkin in the first of the day’s two reverse singles before Viktor Troicki faces Nedovyesov.
Reeling after Kukushkin brushed aside Troicki on Friday to cancel out Djokovic’s opening victory against Nedovyesov, the Serbians were undone by a spirited Kazakh doubles pair who were unfazed against their more illustrious opponents.
Djokovic, the world’s top-ranked singles player, and former doubles No.1 Zimonjic appeared to have taken control of the opening set when they broke Nedovyesov’s serve in the fifth game.
However, they totally imploded as the Kazakhs, again roared on by 150 loud away fans, took the next four to stun the home supporters, who were joined by a drummers’ band after Djokovic’s rallying cry on Friday for more passion from the terraces.
While Djokovic held his own more often than not, Zimonjic struggled and committed three successive double faults to hand the visitors a 5-3 lead before they held serve and closed out the opening set.
Games went with serve in the second as all four players showed remarkable composure, setting up a tie break in which Kazakhstan again showed nerves of steel to swing it their way.
Trailing 2-0 in the tiebreak, the Kazakhs capitalised on a flurry of unforced errors by the home team, as they also showed remarkable composure at the net to win it 7-3.
Sensing an upset was firmly on the cards, the home crowd got behind Serbia in full force but resolute Kazakhstan kept going at full throttle, as they held serve comfortably to nose 4-3 ahead in the third set.
Their volleying was simply impeccable and even a player of Djokovic’s class struggled to find chinks in what looked like a Kazakh wall in the other half of the court.
Golubev, for his part, rattled the Serbians with several breathtaking winners, notably a scorching cross-court backhand which left Zimonjic wrong-footed and rooted to the spot in the eight game of the third set.
As the proverbial axe drew closer to Serbia’s necks, Zimonjic somehow held serve to tie it at 4-4 when Nedovyesov slammed an easy forehand into the net.
With the set delicately balanced at 5-5, the Kazakhs saved a break point with yet another superb volley and piled more pressure on the Serbians, who looked totally bereft of ideas and running on empty.
Zimonjic again faltered in the final game, volleying a backhand into the net to give Kazakhstan a double match point and the visitors needed no second invitation, taking it in 2 hours 27 minutes to put themselves in the tie’s driving seat.
Serbian captain Bogdan Obradovic said: "Congratulations to Kazakhstan, they earned it all the way. We just couldn’t cope with the pressure at key moments, while they played at a very high level in every department. We’ve been here before and we now have to regroup in order to win Sunday’s reverse singles."
Novak Djokovic added: "They showed real quality today and deservedly won. They were constant throughout the match and had no lapses in concentration. The second and third sets were tight and we tried as hard as we could, but we lost to a better team.
"It is hardly surprising, given that they beat Switzerland’s Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka last term. It’s not the first time we’ve been 2-1 down after the doubles and we know what we have to do if we are to force the final twist."

Source: DavisCup.com