Astana, Kazakhstan – Lukas Rosol's victory Sunday over Evgeny Korolev sent the defending champion Czech Republic into the semifinals of the Davis Cup.
Rosol's 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 triumph gave the Czechs an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five tie against Kazakhstan. It was the seventh straight Davis Cup match won by the Czechs and marked the fourth time in the last five years they reached the semifinals.
Rosol, who moved to 4-0 all-time on clay in the Davis Cup, won his singles match Friday against Andrey Golubev. Jan Hajek beat Mikhail Kukushkin Friday before Kazakhstan stayed alive Saturday with a straight-set doubles win from the combination of Andrey Golubev and Yuriy Schukin.
The sides agreed not to play the final dead rubber.
That Rosol even played at the Davis Cup was special in itself. He traveled 23 hours at the start of the week from Guadeloupe where he played in the Le Gosier Challenger event.
"It was not easy to travel. Through six airports I traveled here," Rosol said. "We have a great team around us so they take care of the players. I'm very happy for the team around us."
The Czechs made it to the semis despite playing this weekend without their top star, injured world No. 6 Tomas Berdych, who is out with a shoulder problem.
Kazakhstan played in the World Group quarterfinals for the second time in three years after beating Austria in the first round back in February. The Kazakhs were swept by Argentina in the 2011 quarters after beating the Czechs in the first round that year to reach this stage for the first time.
The Czechs will meet the Argentina in the semifinals in September.
The Czechs, who beat Switzerland in the first round in February, toppled mighty Spain in last year's final in Prague.
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