Kazakhstan Upset Russia to Stay Alive
6/01/2010
By Chris Pike
KAZAKHSTAN has stormed back into contention of Hyundai Hopman Cup XXII by beating Russia 2-1 on Wednesday night inside the Burswood Dome.
Yaroslava Shvedova and Andrey Golubev’s upset win over Russia’s Elena Dementieva and Igor Andreev leaves Group B wide open with it to be decided in the double-header on Friday.
Great Britain’s Laura Robson and Andy Murray remain favourites having won both Ties so far, but they play Russia who has won one and so has Kazakhstan now. Only Germany from that Group can’t make it, while Group A will be decided on Thursday morning between Spain and Australia.
On Wednesday night, Dementieva started strongly beating Shvedova 6-3, 6-1 before Golubev got over Andreev 6-4, 6-3. Kazakhstan then claimed the mixed doubles 7-6, 6-4.
Dementieva was coming off an upset loss on Monday to Germany’s Sabine Lisicki and rebounded to open up a 5-2 lead in the blink of an eye. She then took out the set 6-3 and quickly raced to a 3-0 advantage in the second.
Shvedova then got on the board by holding serve, but it didn’t halt Dementieva’s momentum as the world No. 5 closed out the match by winning the second set 6-1 to win her first match of 2010.
The 28-year-old has done it all in her career by winning Olympic gold, 14 singles and six doubles titles, and make at least a semi-final at all four Grand Slams. She’s still at the peak of her powers and was pleased with the way she bounced back from her loss to Lisicki by downing Shvedova.
She also loves the Hyundai Hopman Cup and has been a big fan of it for a long time, so is making the most of her first trip to Perth.
“It just feels so good to win the first match of the year, especially after losing my first one against Sabine. I’m just very pleased that I enjoyed my game and played a little bit better,” Dementieva said.
“I love Hopman Cup. Every time I’ve come to Australia I’ve watched this tournament. It’s one of the very interesting events to watch because this unique format. I really enjoy to play mixed doubles here, it’s so much fun to play against guys.”
While Dementieva’s match went to the script by her beating Shvedova, Golubev refused to lie down for Kazakhstan against the higher ranked Russian. Andreev became increasingly frustrated as Golubev simply played better and better to take the first set 6-4 and then finish off the match 6-3 in the second.
The world No. 133 broke Andreev’s big serve three times and played a terrific match. Golubev was also happy with how he took it up to world No. 4 Andy Murray on Monday, so he just continued that form.
“I was really nervous, he’s No. 4 and played really good tennis. I didn’t have many chances with him, but this time I played my game against Igor. I am very happy to do it,” Golubev said.
“I know he has a big serve and big forehand so I tried to put the pressure on his backhand and play many forehands. It was great.”
Kazakhstan continued their strong showing by claiming the first set tie-break in the mixed doubles and then raced out to a 3-1 lead in the second and won it 6-4 to keep Group B wide open.
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