Mardy Fish wipes out Andrey Golubev to lead tie against Kazakhstan at Power Horse World Team Cup
World number 10, Mardy Fish, drew first blood for America by defeating the Kazakh opponent Andrey Golubev in the second tie of the round robin stage at Power horse World Team Cup on Tuesday. Being played at the Rochusclub in Dusseldorf,
Germany, the American wrapped up the contest in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, taking just one hour and fourteen minutes of play.
After winning the opening tie 2-1 against Sweden, Team America had an excellent start to its second matchup of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 event. Fish had an assertive victory in the first singles
rubber but Mikhail Kukushkin stood victorious against the other American, Sam Querrey, to keep the Kazakh hopes alive in the contest.
Fish had no difficulty in disposing of the 45th ranked Golubev in the contest and beat him in every segment of the game. The American finally avenged his defeat form Golubev to register his 16 victory of the running
ATP season at Dusseldorf. Fish was beaten by the Kazakh competitor in the round of 128 of Australian Open last year but he levelled the head-to-head record against him to 1-1 with his victory in the World Team Cup.
Despite of a below par first serve of 48 per cent, Fish secured 22 out of 26 points on it to get the competitive advantage in the contest. He cashed in most of his opportunities in the game and rarely faced any challenge from his
opponent en route to victory. Fished converted four out of six break chances while Golubev won just one out of four break points in the contest to remain on the losing side at the end.
The American’s serve didn’t play a great part in his victory but his points winning proficiency was phenomenal. He cracked plenty of winners down the line, exploiting the bleak baseline defence of the Kazakh to perfection. Golubev
struck a serve break to hang in the opener for a while but two break points from Fish left him answerless. The American bagged the opening set at 6-4 to get one up in the contest.
American dominance became stronger in the following set, as Fish broke in the very first game to lead 2-0. The Kazakh could hold serve in just two games before a second serve break from Fish proved decisive. The American served
out of the contest at 6-2 to get his side an initial 1-0 lead in the tie.
Since Kukushkin levelled the tie by winning his singles rubber against Querrey, it all comes down to the doubles matchup to decide the winner of the contest.
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