ALMATY: Mikhail Kukushkin beat Andreas Seppi in straight sets to put the hosts Kazakhstan level at 2-2 with visitors Italy in a Davis Cup World Group first round tie at Astana on Sunday.
Kukushkin won 7-6 (10/8), 6-0, 6-4 in two hours two minutes at the hardcourts of the National Tennis Centre against the 31-year-old Seppi to keep Kazakhstan alive.
"It will be very important if we manage to win this tie," Kukushkin said.
"Personally I'm very happy to beat two players in the Top 50. These two wins are among the most important in my career.
"The first set was very difficult. But after winning it I began playing with much more confidence. Luckily I managed to break early in the third and kept my lead to win the rubber."
The opponents both looked a bit nervous from the start trading breaks halfway into the opening set, which was decided in a tiebreak.
Kukushkin, ranked 58th in the world, hit the lines and drew numerous unforced errors from the shell-shocked Italian.
In the second set, 27-year-old Kukushkin was in complete command, breaking Seppi's serve on three occasions to take the set at love and make it 2-0 after one hour 28 minutes on court.
In the third, local crowd's favourite Kukushkin underlined his supremacy as he broke Seppi's serve immediately and kept his lead til the end to level the match scores.
"Losing the first set was not easy for me as it was a very even match in the beginning," Seppi said.
"Mikhail (Kukushkin) played very solid and aggressive tennis, while I had around 20 minutes in the second set when I didn't know what to do. And unlike the first day my serve was not helping me."
On Saturday Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli gave Italy a crucial 2-1 lead over Kazakhstan by winning the doubles rubber 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 6-7 (13/15), 6-4 against Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov.
On Friday Seppi beat Golubev 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2 to draw Italy level at 1-1 after Kukushkin had given Kazakhstan the lead with a straight-set win over Bolelli 7-6 (8/6), 6-1, 6-2.
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