Wiener Neustadt, Austria – Jurgen Melzer was the hero on setted Alex Bogomolov Jr. to propel Austria past Russian and into its first Davis Cup quarterfinal since 1995.
The Austrians led best-of-five opening-round affair 2-1 heading into Sunday when Melzer flattened Bogomolov 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 in 1 hour, 43 minutes in the first reverse singles rubber to give the hosts an insurmountable 3-1 advantage at Wiener Neustadt's Arena Nova. Melzer piled up seven service breaks on Day 3, compared to only two for the Russian loser.
"I think it was one-way traffic," said Melzer, "which surprised me a little bit because I think he's a great player, but I just dominated him after the first three points when he hit three winners. It was close to the performances I had when I was top 10 and I'm really happy for the team that we made it."
Russia stayed alive on Saturday, pulling within 2-1 with a grueling five-set doubles victory by Nikolay Davydenko and Mikhail Youzhny against a quality Austrian duo of Alexander Peya and Oliver Marach.
In Friday's opening singles, Melzer beat Igor Kunitsyn in five sets and little-known Andreas Haider-Maurer really surprised Bogomolov in four. Bogomolov had played as an American on tour before switching his allegiance to his native Russia this year. Last year's most-improved ATP player was making his Davis Cup debut this week, and it turned out to be a forgettable one for the Florida resident.
Sunday's dead rubber saw Kunitsyn clip Haider-Maurer 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), as Austria, captained by Clemens Trimmel, settled for a 3-2 victory.
Austria is now 1-2 all-time against two-time champion Russia in Davis Cup play. Both Russian wins came when they were part of the former Soviet Union, in 1981 and 1984.
The Austrians, who have never captured the Davis Cup, will go on the road to meet reigning champion Spain in the quarterfinals in April.
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