Nadal hails great ambience as Spain beat Russia in key Davis Cup tie

Rafael Nadal defeated Russia’s Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6 (9/7) in straight sets at a Davis Cup match to ignite a Spanish rally on Tuesday.

Nadal, who is set to finish another year at the helm with an unassailable lead, came through a second-set tie-break to beat  Khachanov and level the Group B match in Madrid.

Marcel Granollers and Feliciano Lopez defeated the Russian duo of Khachanov and Andrey Rublev, 6-3, 7-6 (9/7) in the deciding doubles match to complete to give Spain victory after Roberto Bautista Agut’s loss against Rublev had given Russia lead.

A new format this year means the Davis Cup takes place in one venue, across a single week, with organisers —  among them Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique -- hoping a tighter schedule will revitalise the prestigious trophy.

The three stadiums at the Caja Magica were all far from full for Tuesday’s early matches but Nadal enjoyed a bumper crowd of local fans for his hard-fought contest in the evening.

“The atmosphere was amazing,” said Nadal. Asked about the success of the competition so far, he added: “It is difficult to answer today. Let me wait until the tournament is over to have a clear and better opinion.” The last doubles match finished at just before 2:00 am, with Spain due to be back in action against Croatia on next day.

“The only negative in my opinion is we are just starting the last match and it’s 12.45am,” Nadal said ahead of the doubles.

Kyrgios battled past Alejandro Gonzalez 6-4, 6-4 and Alex de Minaur defeated Daniel Galan 6-4, 6-3 before John Peers and Jordan Thompson also won the doubles.

Australia could seal their place in the last eight by beating Belgium on Wednesday and Kyrgios, who has returned from a two-month break to play in Madrid, was feeling bullish after his win.

Canada are through after Vasek Pospisil and Denis Shapovalov won singles ties against Reilly Opelka and Taylor Fritz respectively to secure victory over the United States while France had earlier survived a scare, the tournament’s top seeds needing to win a decisive doubles rubber to beat Japan.

Even without their injured star Kei Nishikori, Japan came close to recording a major upset before experienced French duo Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert pulled the 10-time champions over the line.

Their 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 7-5 victory against Ben McLachlan and Yasutaka Uchiyama was enough after Gael Monfils slipped to a surprise 7-5, 6-2 singles loss to world number 73 Yoshihito Nishioka.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had opened with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Uchiyama. France, on their 100th appearance in the Davis Cup, are one of the favourites this week even if they have been sceptical of the controversial changes to the 119-year-old competition.

“I have to say, it is a strange feeling,” said Mahut. “When you play Davis Cup, usually the stadium is full.”

“Actually, it was pretty special because it was the first time I hear myself singing the Marseillaise,” added Herbert.

Elsewhere, Argentina beat Chile 3-0 and Kazakhstan prevailed 2-1 against the Netherlands.

Kazakhstan, who will face Andy Murray and Great Britain in Group E on Wednesday, needed Mikhail Kukushkin and Alexander Bublik to win the doubles rubber 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) against Dutch pair Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer.

Agencies