05 March,2011 09:05 AM IST | | PA Sport
Spain's Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco both won in straight sets in the Davis Cup World Group first round clash yesterday while France also went 2-0 up and Argentina's tearful David Nalbandian battled a hernia to win his game.
Rafael Nadal returns to Belgium's Ruben Bemelmans during
their Davis Cup match in Charleroi yesterday. Pic/Getty Images
Nadal beat Belgium's Ruben Bemelmans 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, after Verdasco earlier won 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 against Belgium's top player Xavier Malisse.
France's Jeremy Chardy beat defeating Jurgen Melzer 7-5, 6-4, 7-5 after which Gilles Simon made it 2-0 with straight sets victory 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 over Stefan Koubek.
India's Rohan Bopanna went down fighting to Serbia's Victor Troicki 3-6, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 3-6 as the hosts went 1-0 up in the davis Cup World Group tie yesterday.
Troicki raced into a 2-0 lead over Bopanna, who then clawed his way back to set up a cliffhanger which the Serb eventually won. Troicki would not have played here had Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic not missed the tie to recover physically from a hectic start to the year.
At the time of going to press, India's young gun Somdev Devvarman was leading Janklo Tiparevic 7-5, 7-5 in the day's second match.
