MOSCOW, October 26 (R-Sport) - World No. 80 Alex Bogomolov Jr. beat South Africa’s Jacob Coenraad De Klerk in four sets to give Russia a 2-0 lead in their Davis Cup relegation playoff on Friday.
Bogomolov gave the home crowd at the Olympiisky Sports Complex the jitters by losing the first set to his little-known opponent, 1,485th in the rankings, but pulled himself together to grab a (3) 6-7, 6-0, 6-4, 6-1 win in two hours and 43 minutes.
"It was very important for me to win on home soil, so I was a little bit tense at the start," Bogomolov said.
"But then I realized the situation, got more relaxed and started to get a kick out of playing. I'm happy to bring this point to the team."
The 30-year-old Russian was visibly rusty in the first set but tightened it up in the second, failing to give 21-year-old De Klerk a single break point from then on.
In the third set, De Klerk had to take several medical breaks, asking a masseuse to work on his right thigh.
Earlier Friday, 17-year-old prodigy Karen Khachanov defeated world No. 563 Dean O'Brien in straight sets.
Russia can guarantee an overall victory already in Saturday's doubles, which pit the Russian pair of Andrey Kuznetsov and Konstantin Kravchuk against South Africa's Tucker Vorster and Raven Klaasen. The last two single matches are scheduled for Sunday.
The losing nation will be relegated to the third tier of the world's premier men's team competition; while the winner remains in the second.
