Kukushkin looked like he was a cruising to an easy victory against Farrukh Dustov, but the world No. 308 had other ideas and dug deep to win the third set and almost take the match into a decider.

The Kazakh No. 1 eventually prevailed 6:2, 6:4, 3:6 and 7:6 (5) in 2 hours 52 minutes. Kukushkin recorded five break points and three lost his own serves. Kazakh representatives served six aces and made one double fault.

In his turn, Farrukh Dustov registered six aces and made one double fault.

Tomorrow, Denis Istomin and Farrukh Dustov will play against Andrei Golubev and Yuriy Shukin in the third rubber.