Russia kept alive its hopes of reaching the Davis Cup semi-finals Saturday by beating Austria in a marathon doubles rubber to leave the scores at 2-1 ahead of Sunday’s closing singles rubbers.
The Russian pair of Nikolay Davydenko and Mikhail Youzhny defeated Austrian doubles specialists Alexander Peya and Oliver Marach 6-7 (1), 7-6 (7), 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in a match lasting four hours and 45 minutes.
Neither team proved able to keep a lasting advantage in the match. The Austrians, playing at home, came close to stealing the match in the deciding set with an early break, only for the Russian pair to level the scores and then pull ahead.
The winner will play Spain in the quarter-final between April 6 and 8, which would be Austria’s first since 1995 and Russia’s first since 2010.
On Friday, Jurgen Melzer defeated Igor Kunitsyn 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in the opening rubber. Kunitsyn was a surprise selection for the singles after Russia captain Shamil Tarpishchev opted to rest Youzhny, who at no. 32 is the team’s highest-ranked player.
Andreas Haider-Maurer recorded Austria’s second win, beating Alex Bogomolov Jr. 6-1, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 on the latter’s Davis Cup debut.
Melzer will open Sunday’s singles against Bogomolov before Haider-Maurer plays Kunitsyn in the final rubber, although changes to the line-up are possible.
Russia, a two-time champion, had never played Austria in the Davis Cup before, although the Soviet Union won two meetings in the 1980s.
