Kazakhstan beat Canada 3-0 to secure quarter-final berth at Davis Cup Finals
Mikhail Kukushkin and Alexander Bublik won their singles matches as the Kazakhs finished on top of Group B
Kazakhstan swept into the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup Finals after beating Canada 3-0 in Group B action in Madrid, Spain on Sunday. The Kazakhs join Italy, Great Britain and Croatia in the last eight with four more berths still to be decided later today.
Kukushkin wins marathon to give Kazakhs 1-0 lead
In the first rubber of the tie, Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin needed nearly three hours to pull out a marathon 6-3, 6-7, 7-5 win over Canada’s Brayden Schnur to put the Kazakhs 1-0 ahead in the tie.
Schnur managed to save three match points late in the second set to pull the match into a deciding set but Kukushkin proved too strong over the final hurdle.
Bublik win sends Kazakh into Davis Cup quarters
In the second singles rubber, Kazakh No 1 Alexander Bublik scored a 6-2, 7-6 win over Vasek Pospisil in 59 minutes to seal the tie 2-0 for Kazakhstan and assure them of a berth in the last eight.
Doubles pair put icing on the cake for Kazakhstan
Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov then put a nice gloss on the scoreline as they completed the rout with a 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-1 win over Peter Polansky and Brayden Schnur.
Sweden, who finished second in Group B, are likely to qualify for the quarter-finals as one of the best runners-up, with a 4-2 matches record, though they will have to wait on other results to be sure.