Masur considers Hewitt, Groth for singles

Davis Cup captain Wally Masur says the pressure is now back on Kazakhstan after Australia won Saturday’s crucial doubles rubber.

Australia were facing a quarter-final whitewash after Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis slumped to singles defeats on Friday.

But Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth kept Australia’s title hopes alive on Saturday with a 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 win over Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov in Darwin.

Australia must win the remaining two singles rubbers if they are to advance to the semi-finals, and Masur hopes his team’s victory in the doubles will end up being a huge momentum shifter.

“Two-nil down is one thing,” Masur said.

“But to a degree, I feel like we’ve thrown it back at them now.”

Masur will consider overhauling his line-up for Sunday’s deciding singles battle.

Kokkinakis is unlikely to get a gig after struggling to adapt to the grass conditions on day one, with Groth likely to take his place.

And Kyrgios might also be replaced after Hewitt’s sharp display in the doubles.

Kazakhstan captain Dias Doskarayev is backing his team to stay calm and composed despite Saturday’s doubles loss.

“There’s no panic,” he said.

“We are playing great, all the guys are in shape. We are coming out with some good shots.

“Our guys are not young, all of them are 27, 28 years old.

“They’ve been playing a number of Davis Cup matches, they’ve been in all kinds of situations.”

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