AKIPRESS.COM - Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin beat Italy's Andreas Seppi 2-2 in a Davis Cup World Group first round in Astana on Sunday.

Kukushkin won 7-6 (10/8), 6-0, 6-4 in two hours two minutes at the National Tennis Centre against the 31-year-old Seppi. 

"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," said Kukushkin. 

Kukushkin, ranked 58th in the world.

"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, reports AFP.