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Story highlights
Australian Open champion loses to world No. 64 in Davis Cup quarters
Swiss teammate Roger Federer wins his rubber to tie match with Kazakhstan 1-1
Germany race to 2-0 lead over France in Nancy; Czechs also 2-0 up against Japan
Italy lead Britain 1-0 after rain-delayed first day in Naples
Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka suffered a shock defeat against Andrey Golubev in Switzerland’s David Cup quarterfinal tie with Kazakhstan in Geneva on Friday.
Wawrinka who beat the odds to win his first major title against Rafa Nadal in Melbourne in January was on the receiving end of an upset this time as he fell to the world No. 64 Golubev 7-6 (7/5) 6-2 3-6 7-6 (7/5) in three hours 14 minutes.
The 29-year-old cut a frustrated figure as his Kazakh opponent took control of the match winning the first-set tiebreak before racing through the second.
Wawrinka rallied in the third before slumping to defeat in four sets.
“I’m really disappointed with myself but I have to give credit to Golubev,” Wawrinka said, DavisCup.com reported.
“He was really aggressive and he found a way to win the match. I didn’t play so well,” he added.
“I was expecting more mistakes. I wasn’t aggressive enough with my game. I’m really disappointed with the loss but have to accept it and be ready for tomorrow and a long weekend.”
Wawrinka’s loss was canceled out by Roger Federer a short time later as the former world No. 1 cruised to a straight sets win over Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4 6-4 6-2 to level the tie.
The Swiss pair will now team up for Saturday’s crucial doubles rubber against Evgeny Korolev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov.
In Naples, the match between Britain and Italy is also finely poised with home side currently 1-0 up following Fabio Fognini’s four-set 6-4 2-6 6-4 6-1 win over James Ward.
A rain-delay at the start of the day meant that both singles rubbers couldn’t be completed, but Andy Murray will have the edge when he and Andreas Seppi return to complete their match on Saturday morning.
The Scot won the first set 6-4 and when bad light halted play the pair were tied at 5-5 in the second.
In the remaining two ties, the situation is more clear cut after day one with Germany and the Czech Republic on course for a semifinal meeting.
Germany, who are without Davis Cup regulars Tommy Haas, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Florian Mayer, raced to a 2-0 lead over France in Nancy.
World No. 96 Tobias Kamke upset Julien Benneteau in straight sets 7-6 (10/8) 6-3 6-2 in the day’s opening rubber before to Peter Gojowczyk, ranked 119 in the world, saw off world No. 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a marathon five-setter 5-7 7-6 (7/3) 3-6 7-6 (10/8) 8-6.
Michael Llodra and Gael Monfils will have to win Saturday’s doubles match against Andre Begemann and Kamke to keep the tie alive.
Japan also have it all to do in their match with the Czech Republic in Tokyo.
World No. 47 Radek Stepanek beat Tatsuma Ito – ranked a lowly No. 146 in the world – in four sets 6-7 (7/5) 7-6 (7/5) 6-1 7-5 in the opening rubber before Lukas Rosol needed five sets (6-4 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-2) to get past world No. 190 Taro Daniel.
