GENEVA: Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka slumped to a shock defeat in the Davis Cup on Saturday as minnows Kazakhstan opened a 2-1 lead in their quarterfinal clash.
Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov stunned Federer and Wawrinka 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 7-6 (8/6) in the doubles.
Australian Open champion Wawrinka, the world number three, had also lost his opening singles on Friday, going down 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5) to 64th ranked Golubev.
But 17-time Grand Slam winner Federer then stormed to a straight sets 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win over Mikhail Kukushkin to level the tie.
The quarterfinal will be decided on Sunday in the reverse singles with the winners to face either Italy or Great Britain in September’s semifinals.
Meanwhile, in Naples, Andy Murray and Colin Fleming edged Britain a step closer to ending their 33-year wait for a place in the semifinals of the Davis Cup with a hard-fought doubles win over Italy on Saturday.
Earlier, Murray accounted for Andreas Seppi 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 to level the tie, which had been halted due to poor light on Friday. (Agencies)
