Jurgen Melzer recorded a hard-fought win over Igor Kunitsyn on Friday to give Austria an early edge in their Davis Cup first-round match with Russia.
Melzer won 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in the first rubber to give the hosts the lead in Wiener Neustadt after a grueling match.
Melzer, ranked no. 40 in the world, took an early break in the deciding set, and broke a tiring Kunitsyn again to take total control and close out the match.
Kunitsyn was a surprise choice for the opening say of singles after Russia captain Shamil Tarpishchev opted to rest Mikhail Youzhny, his highest-ranked player, who won the men’s singles and doubles titles at the Zagreb Indoors last week.
Melzer, 30, said before the tie that he was surprised to play Vladivostok-born Kunitsyn, at no.79 the lowest-ranked member of the Russian team, but said he expected a tough match, given that Kunitsyn had won both of their previous meetings.
The hard-hitting Austrian took control of the first set at 3-1 following a 15-minute game featuring 10 deuces, before breaking Kunitsyn again to take the set.
Kunitsyn, 30, put up stiff resistance in the second set to force a tiebreak, which he won 7-3.
Melzer took the third convincingly before Kunitsyn hit back strongly in the fourth, but the Russian appeared to be starting to tire.
Saturday will see a doubles match between Austria’s Oliver Marach and doubles specialist Alexander Peya and the Russian pair of Youzhny and veteran Nikolai Davydenko, the world no. 51.
Russia, a two-time champion, has never played Austria in the Davis Cup before, although the Soviet Union won two meetings in the 1980s.
