MADRID: Rafael Nadal kept Spain’s hopes alive, then Marcel Granollers and Feliciano Lopez completed the comeback in the decisive doubles match to give the hosts a 2-1 win over Russia in the inaugural Davis Cup Finals.

Granollers and Lopez defeated Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) to seal the victory for Spain in a marathon series that ended close to 2 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) on Wednesday.

The top-ranked Nadal earlier defeated Khachanov 6-3, 7-6 (9-7) to level the series 1-1 after Rublev had rallied to beat Roberto Bautista-Agut 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-0) in the first match.

“It was a difficult situation for us,” Lopez said. “We needed this win, otherwise we could be close to being out of the tournament. Now we are in a good position to advance.”

Although only one of the matches reached three sets, it took nearly eight hours to complete the series at the Caja Magica (Magic Box) center court. Spain can reach the quarter-finals by beating defending champions Croatia. Russia beat Croatia on Monday.

In the revamped Davis Cup format debuting this year, teams play only two singles and a doubles in each tie, with the group winners advancing to the knockout stage along with the two best second-place finishers in the six groups.

“The format makes things very difficult because every mistake puts you in a position that you don’t want to be,” Nadal said. “And losing that first match, we were under pressure.”

The Davis Cup Finals is being played in World Cup-style with all 18 teams playing in a single venue in the same week. It is the result of a 25-year partnership between the International Tennis Federation and Kosmos, a group co-founded by Barcelona football player Gerard Piqu.

Brazil star Neymar was among the more than 12,000 in attendance, which also included a marching band organised by Spanish fans that fired up the crowd throughout the matches.

CANADA INTO LAST EIGHT

Canada’s tennis resurgence continued as they became the first nation through to the last eight after beating the United States for the first time in 16 attempts.

Vasek Pospisil, ranked 150th in the world, edged youngster Reilly Opelka 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (9-7) before Denis Shapovalov beat Taylor Fritz 7-6 (8-6), 6-3. The Canadians’ second 2-1 win, having beaten Italy on Monday, sealed top spot in Group ‘F’.

“Right now, Canada is really in the best place it’s been in tennis history,” Pospisil said.

Canada could face Australia in the last eight after Nick Kyrgios returned from a two-month lay-off to put his team on their way to a 3-0 win over Colombia in Group ‘D’.

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.

Top seeds and last year’s runners-up France had a close shave as they beat Japan 2-1 — Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert winning the decisive doubles 6-7(4) 6-4 7-5 against Ben McLachlan and Yasutaka Uchiyama.

The teams were tied after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga cruised past Uchiyama 6-2, 6-1 and Yoshihito Nishioka defeated Gael Monfils 7-5, 6-2.

Argentina comfortably got past Chile 3-0 in Group ‘C’, with Guido Pella beating Nicolas Jarry 6-4, 6-3 and Diego Schwartzman defeating Cristian Garin 6-2, 6-2.

The tie was already decided when Maximo Gonzlez and Leonardo Mayer topped Jarry and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo 6-3, 7-5 in the doubles match.

Kazakhstan also needed the doubles match to beat the Netherlands 2-1 and clinch their first away Davis Cup win since 2011.

The Group ‘E’ victory came after Mikhail Kukushkin and Alexander Bublik defeated Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-4, 7-6 (7-2). Kukushkin had beaten Botic van de Zanschulp 6-2, 6-2, while Haase defeated Bublik 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5).

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2019