Golubev, Schukin put Kazakhstan in front
Andrey Golubev and Yury Schukin put Kazakhstan 2-1 up in their Davis Cup World Group playoff against Uzbekistan by beating Denis Istomin and Farrukh Dustov on the clay courts of Astana on Saturday.
The host pair won their doubles encounter 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 24 minutes to take the lead in their first ever Davis Cup meeting with the Uzbek squad.
The two duos matched each other stride for stride in a tight, 56-minute first set, trading early breaks before Golubev and Schukin prevailed in a tie-break.
Early breaks in the second and third sets enabled the home pairing to close out a fairly straightforward victory.
The winner of the tie will be decided in Sunday's reversed singles matches.
