OSTRAVA, Czech Republic (AP) — Andrey Golubev and Mikhail Kukushkin won reverse singles matches Sunday to lift Kazakhstan to a 3-2 upset of the Czech Republic in the first round of the Davis Cup.
Golubev defeated Tomas Berdych 7-5, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in the first reverse singles to level the score at 2-2 before Mikhail Kukushkin beat Jan Hajek 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-0 to clinch the best-of-five series on an indoor hard court at CEZ Arena.
Kazakhstan, which is making its World Group debut, will face Argentina in the quarterfinals in July.
The Czechs reached the semifinals last year and the final in 2009.