|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
| ||
|
Men's Tennis
| ||
|
Women's Tennis
| ||
| |
|||
| Monday, February 12 |
|||
| Kafelnikov comeback gives Russia 3-2 Davis Cup win Reuters | |||
|
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia -- Russia's pair of former world
No. 1s dug themselves into a hole on Sunday before Yevgeny
Kafelnikov clawed his way back in a five-set thriller against
Karol Kucera to give Russia a 3-2 Davis Cup victory against Slovakia.
After teammate Marat Safin was thrashed in straight sets by
Dominik Hrbaty to level the world group first round tie at 2-2,
Kafelnikov faced a must-win situation to put the favorites
through.
But veteran Kucera, who had an injury-plagued 2000, came out
strongly after a day's rest following his last-minute scratching
from Saturday's doubles -- Kafelnikov played -- to take the
first two sets by a 6-4 margin.
With the boisterous home crowd cheering him on, Kucera was
on the verge of his second upset of the weekend after beating
Safin in the opening singles on Friday.
But Kafelnikov appeared to get stronger as the match wore
on, pounding the Slovak from the baseline.
He scored a crucial break in the eighth game of the third
set and never looked back as Kucera faded to a 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2,
6-2 defeat.
"You just hope your opponent will give you one chance to get
back into the match. And until the middle of the third set I
didn't have a chance. Karol was playing very well, he was
dictating the game," Kafelnikov said.
A dose of confidence "Towards the end of the third set ... the confidence came back and at that point I started to believe I could win." For Safin it was a weekend he would rather forget. After jumping out to a two-set lead against Kucera on Friday he lost his concentration, and eventually the match. Earlier in the day, the reigning U.S. Open champ won the coin toss against Hrbaty, but that was about it. With Russia leading the tie 2-1 at that point and Hrbaty's service looking dreadful all weekend, it seemed like a smart move for Safin to receive instead of going on the attack with his trademark powerful serve. But Hrbaty, a 1999 French Open semifinalist, was the one to come out firing, giving up only seven points on his serve in the first two sets on his way to a 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 victory. "I was more relaxed on my serve because when I played the two previous days, I was having problems with my second serve," Hrbaty said. Safin sprayed unforced errors all over the court in contrast to Hrbaty's steady play. After just 53 minutes, the Slovak underdog was up two sets and poised to upset the Russian for the second time in a month. Safin finally showed flashes of the play that made him the world No. 2 at the end of last year, capitalising on his first break point of the match in the third game of the final set. But Hrbaty, who knocked the Russian out of the Australian Open last month, withstood the storm, breaking back and then again in the final game to seal victory in just 85 minutes. "It was tough out there because he was so full of confidence and I was making mistakes all over the court," Safin said. "I definitely was not tired but I am just not in the best shape right now after such a long year last year." For Slovakia, the tie was a reminder of past setbacks. In 1999, with the score 2-2, Kafelnikov beat Hrbaty in Moscow to put Russia through. Russia faces Sweden in the quarterfinals after the Swedes beat the Czech Republic. "They are a strong team, but if Marat and I play to our full potential, we can get through that match," Kafelnikov said.  Send this story to a friend | |
ALSO SEE Olympic champion Kafelnikov hints at the possibility of retiring Dutch complete 4-1 victory against sorry Spain Australia beats Ecuador in first round of Davis Cup Sweden edges out Czech Republic 3-2 France routs Belgium 5-0 Germany takes both singles matches to advance Switzerland swamps United States out of Davis Cup Brazil wins tie 4-1 to set up repeat of last year's semi Davis Cup results Russia leads Slovakia 2-1 after doubles victory | |
|
|
