Spain builds 2-0 Davis Cup lead on Kazaks

OVIEDO, Spain, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- Defending champion Spain, with wins Friday from Juan Carlos Ferrero and Nicolas Almagro, took a 2-0 lead over Kazakhstan in a first-round Davis Cup series.

Ferrero got by Mikhail Kukushkin 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 6-4 while Almagro defeated Andrey Golubev 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1.

Ferrero had two breaks in the final set to finish off the 4-hour, 28-minute match. Kukushkin hindered his own chances with seven double faults and 101 unforced errors -- nearly 60 percent of all the points Ferrero won in the match.

Almagro had an easier time, winning 71 percent of the points over the final two sets. He had 28 unforced errors, half as many as Golubev. Almagro also won nearly half the points (49-of-103) off Golubev's serve.

The Spanish doubles team of Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez will try to put the series away Saturday against Kazaks Evgeny Korolev and Yuriy Schukin.

If that match goes to Kazakhstan, the series will be decided Sunday in singles matches when Almagro faces Kukushkin and Ferrero plays Golubev.

The winner of the Spain-Kazakhstan series moves into the April 6-8 quarterfinals against either Austria or Russia. Austria owns a 2-0 lead in that best-of-five series.