Rafael Nadal roars as Spain level the tie
Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal leads Spain to ATP Cup victory over Uruguay


World number one Rafael Nadal brushed aside Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas to seal Spain's second straight win in the round-robin stage of the inaugural ATP Cup in Perth.

Nadal's 6-2 6-1 win gave his team an unassailable lead in the tie before Pablo Carreno Busta and Feliciano Lopez beat Ariel Behar and Juan Martin Fumeaux 6-1 3-6 10-3 to complete a 3-0 victory.

Spain's win puts them in a strong position to qualify for the final stages of the competition as they prepare for their final round-robin match against Japan on Thursday.

Nadal told atptour.com: "It was a positive victory. I played a very solid match and my serve worked better than the first day. (But) it (Thursday) is going to be a tough one."

In Brisbane, Novak Djokovic beat Gael Monfils to give Serbia a strong start against France before returning to the court to play a crucial role in the decisive doubles match.

Djokovic's 6-3 6-2 triumph over Monfils was cancelled out by Benoit Paire's 6-2 6-7 (6) 6-4 win over Dusan Lajovic, taking the Group A showdown down to the wire.

But Djokovic showed no ill effects when he joined Viktor Troicki to beat doubles specialists Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin via a final set tie-break 6-3 6-7(5) 10-3 and claim victory.

Wins for Dominic Thiem and Dennis Novak over Diego Schwartzmann and Guido Pella respectively helped Austria ease to a 3-0 win over Argentina in Group E.

Marin Cilic beat Kacper Zuk 7-6 (8) 6-4 as Croatia beat Poland 2-1, while there were also wins for South Africa and Japan.

Elsewhere, Jeremy Chardy set up a meeting with top seed Stan Wawrinka in the second round of the Qatar Open.

Chardy needed three sets to get past fellow Frenchman Gregoire Barrere 6-3 3-6 6-3.

Adrian Mannarino, also of France, beat Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik 6-3 6-4 and Fernando Verdasco won the all-Spanish showdown against Pablo Andujar 6-4 6-3.

Sixth seed Filip Krajinovic beat Britain's Kyle Edmund 4-6 6-3 6-3 and fellow Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic swept past Australian Jordan Thompson 6-4 6-2.

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