All square in Davis Cup
Switzerland and Russia have finished the opening day of their first round Davis Cup tie on level terms.
The Swiss got off to a fantastic start when Roger Federer (ATP 13) pulled off a surprisingly one-sided straight sets win (7-5, 6-1, 6-2) over Russian world number seven Marat Safin.
“After the first set I started to play much better. I felt I was getting more confidence in my shots,” Federer said.
“I could do whatever I wanted. I was not expecting such an easy match,” he added, clearly pleased with his win over the Australian Open finalist.
For a long time it seemed as if Friday’s second singles match might produce an even bigger upset with Swiss number two Michel Kratochvil (ATP 43) defying the odds to take a 2-1 lead over world number four Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
Serving for the set
In front of a stunned Moscow crowd, the 22-year-old from Bern even found himself serving for the match at 6-5 in the fourth set.
But then Kafelnikov took charge. Winning three break points off the Swiss player’s serve, the Russian then profited from a Kratochvil double fault to take the set into a tie-break.
More nervy serving from the Swiss number two and consistently strong play from Kafelnikov saw the Russian clinch the tie-break 7-3 and force the match into a deciding set.
Broken in the very first game of that set, Kratochvil managed to break back level immediately afterwards, but after a further break by Kafelnikov there was no way back.
Kafelnikov said his 6-3, 4-6, 1-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 victory proved physically draining.
“I have had a six-week break and my body just does not recover as quickly as when it was 21,” the 28-year-old said.
Kratochvil said he was not nervous playing in front of a Russian crowd. “But I attempted somethings and made some small mistakes,” he said.
Kratochvil’s defeat leaves the scoreline between the two teams at 1-1 with three rubbers remaining.
On Saturday, Federer is due to pair up with Marc Rosset for the doubles match against Safin and Kafelnikov.
Sunday’s two singles matches are set to pit Federer against Kafelnikov and Kratochvil against Safin.
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