Kazakhstan propels to first Davis Cup quarterfinal since 2015
Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Timur Khabibulin secured Kazakhstan's berth in the Davis Cup quarterfinal after a five-set doubles thriller.
They spent over three hours on court to defeat Swiss Luca Margaroli and Marc-Andrea Huesler 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 6-3.
Nedovyesov and Khabibulin confidently took the first set and even the second one despite slipping to a 4-1 deficit.
The Kazakh duo started experiencing problems in the middle of the doubles rubber. They succumbed to pressure and lost the third and the fourth sets.
The fifth decisive set was pretty tense with both teams exchanging aces left and right. However, Khabibulin hit the backhand winner to seal the victory (video).
It is to be recalled that Dmitry Popko and Mikhail Kukushkin gave Kazakhstan an impressive 2-0 lead on Friday and Dias Doskarayev's squad was only one point away from reaching the Davis Cup quarterfinal.
In the quarterfinal, Kazakhstan will play against the winner of the Croatia vs Canada face-off.
??3???0????#Khabibulin hits the winning blow for Kazakhstan - and sends his nation into the 2018 #DavisCup quarterfinals! pic.twitter.com/T3J3R2uLqt
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) 3 ??????? 2018 ?.