ASTANA, Kazakhstan (AP) — Jan Hajek and Lukas Rosol both won their opening singles matches Friday to give the defending champion Czech Republic a 2-0 lead over Kazakhstan in their Davis Cup quarterfinal.
Hajek defeated Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 before Rosol rallied to beat Andrey Golubev 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (6) in the second singles.
It was the first loss at home for Kukushkin, who has a 12-6 record in the competition.
The Czech Republic is without Tomas Berdych, who has a shoulder injury. Their No. 2 player Radek Stepanek, who had a neck operation in January, was rested for the opening singles. He’s scheduled to play doubles on Saturday and may step in for a reverse singles match on Sunday.