US Open champion Rafael Nadal teamed up with Marc Lopez to give Spain an unassailable 3-0 lead over Ukraine in their Davis Cup World Group play-off on Saturday.
The Spanish pair beat Denys Molchanov and Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-2, 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 6-4 in just over three hours to ensure the five-time champions will remain amongst the world’s top 16 nations next year.
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Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez celebrate after beating Denys Molchanov and Sergiy Stakhovsky. Pic/AFP
It was Nadal’s third best-of-five set match in just six days as after sealing his 13th Grand Slam title in New York on Monday, he cruised to a 6-0, 6-0, 6-4 win over Stakhovsky on Friday.
The 27-year-old hadn’t been expected to play in the doubles having not done so in the Davis Cup since pairing up with Fernando Verdasco to beat the Italian pair of Daniele Bracciali and Giorgio Galimberti back in 2005.
However, Nadal admitted on Friday that having made the effort to come straight from six weeks on the American hard courts back onto the clay of the Spanish capital, it was only a small extra demand to play in the doubles.
Australia jolted
Meanwhile, Australia’s hopes of returning to the Davis Cup World Group suffered a jolt when Poland kept the two nations’ play-off alive on Saturday.
Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski defeated Chris Guccione and debutant Nick Kyrgios 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4 in the doubles rubber after Australia had won both of Friday’s singles.
Saturday’s defeat ended Guccione’s run of eight successive wins in the tournament.u00a0On Friday, former World No 1 Lleyton Hewitt beat Lukasz Kubot, 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 while Bernard Tomic saw off Michal Przysiezny, 7-5, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4. Australia are hoping to end their streak of five World Group play-off losses.
Play-off results
Spain 3-0 Ukraine
Netherlands 3-0 Austria
Croatia 1-2 Great Britain
Switzerland 3-0 Ecuador
Germany 2-1 Brazil
Poland 1 - 2 Australia
Belgium 1-2 Israel
Japan 1-2 Colombia
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