Team Kazakhstan and its bleak chances in the quarterfinal – 2011 Davis Cup
Kazakhstan battled in the World group for the first time after they defeated Switzerland in the 2010 World Group Play-offs. The Kazakh players had started competing in 1995 but represented the USSR Davis Cup team. The Kazakhs surprised
everyone during the first round by defeating the Czech Republic in a decisive fifth rubber in Ostrava earlier in the year. Mikhail Kukushkin was the saviour of the hour after his accomplice Andrey Golubev had defied the odds to defeat Czech No. 1 Tomas Berdych.
Kazakhstan’s national tennis team is now preparing for a quarterfinal match of the Davis Cup against Argentina in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. Kazakhstan’s national team will be represented by Andrey Golubev, Mikhail Kukushkin,
Yury Shchukin, Yevgeny Korolev and team captain Yegor Shaldunov
Team Argentina’s highest ranked player, Golubev was born on 22nd of July 1987. He is was named ATP Most Improved Player of Year 2010 after climbing from No. 133 in ‘09 to a year-end best No. 36, highlighted by a personal-high 24 match win. In July
2010 he captured his first ATP World Tour title in Hamburg without dropping a set.
Following Golubev is Mikhail Kukushkin. The 23-year-old is currently ranked 67th in the world and was declared the man-of-the-match against the Czechs. He had a magnanimous victory over Tomas Berdych. He captured his
first ATP World Tour title in St. Petersburg (and became second player from Kazakhstan to win an ATP title (the other being Golubev won in Hamburg in July 2010).
Another notable player on the team is Korolev. Born on 14th of February 1988, he is currently ranked 246th in the world. The height of his career was when he reached the quarterfinals of the 2010 Pilot Pen
Tennis without dropping a set before losing to Thiemo de Bakker. In the first round of the US Open he retired to Lu Yen-Hsen because of an elbow injury which left him in the lurch for the rest of the year. In 2011 he managed to make a comeback before falling
to Dmitry Tursunov in the Athens Open.
Kukushkin said “We are so happy that we won today and the most important thing was that I was fighting for every ball.” Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope he can do the same.
Even though the Kazakhs are making their debut in the World Group and are looking for their maiden title; the speculation is that, chances for Argentina to win this match are favourable.
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