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Davis Cup: Kazakhstan ties Serbia 1-1 after opening day

7-5 scoreline gave Kazakhstan a 2-1 lead ahead of the reverse singles on Sunday where the victor will go on to face either Britain or Japan in July’s quarter-finals.

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Kazakhstan took a 2-1 lead against Serbia in their Davis Cup World Group first round tie on in Belgrade on Saturday.

Djokovic beat Mikhail Kukushkin 6-7(6) 7-6(3) 4-6 6-3 6-2 in an absorbing five-hour contest before Viktor Troicki completed Serbia’s comeback with a 6-2 6-3 6-4 win over Aleksandr Nedovyesov.

The Murray brothers finished with an ace to beat Yoshihito Nishioka and Yasutaka Uchiyama of Japan 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in Birmingham.

Having had his left shoulder massaged by Serbia’s team doctor during breaks between games in the third set, Djokovic closed out the match in one hour and 53 minutes.

“This is probably the most psychologically and physically hard match in my career, ” Djokovic said.

Bob and Mike Bryan gave the United States a crucial 2-1 edge with a thrilling five-set win over the Lleyton Hewitt-inspired Australians in Melbourne.

It completed a big weekend for Isner, who cruised to a straight-sets win over Sam Groth in Friday’s opening singles before trumping Tomic on the Australians’ choice of a grass surface.

In Guadeloupe, Yannick Noah’s first match in his second spell as France captain got off to a winning start when Gael Monfils eased past Frank Dancevic 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 and Gilles Simon beat Vasek Pospisil 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 for a 2-0 lead over Canada. Former U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic had given Croatia a 1-0 lead with a 7-5, 6-3, 7-5 win over Kimmer Coppejans.

The winners face either Germany or the Czech Republic, champions in 2012 and 2013, in the next round. Earlier, Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Lukas Rosol 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. Gael Monfils eased past Frank Dancevic 6-3, 6-1, 6-3.

Switzerland, the champions in 2014, were without Roger Federer, who is injured, and Stan Wawrinka, who opted not to play in the tie in Pesaro. Lorenzi won 7-6 (14), 6-3, 4-6, 5-7, 7-5 in a match which featured the longest tiebreaker in World Group history.

Simone Bolelli and Andreas Seppi, who won the Dubai title last week, beat exhausted singles players Marco Chiudinelli and Henri Laaksonen 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 in less than two hours on the indoor clay court to help Italy reach its third quarterfinal in four years.

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But the American twins proved too strong in the decider, winning 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3 to give their team a 2-1 lead.

AFP  Andrej IsakovicSerbia's Novak Djokovic returns a shot to Kazakhstan's Aleksandr Nedovyesov during the Davis Cup World Group first round single match between Serbia and Kazakhstan at the Aleksandar Nikolic hall in Belgrade