Innsbruck (Austria), Nov 27: Top-ranked Novak Djokovic secured a victory for Serbia, 40-year-old Feliciano Lopez got defending champion Spain off to a solid start, and a young Italian team rolled past 32-time champs United States in the Davis Cup Finals here.
Djokovic beat Dennis Novak 6-3 6-2 to give Serbia a 2-0 lead over host Austria after Dusan Lajovic had defeated Gerald Melzer in three sets to open the best-of-three series in Group F on Friday.
The victory extended Djokovic’s winning streak in Davis Cup singles matches to 15. “It feels great to play for Serbia again,” said Djokovic, who helped his country win the Davis Cup in 2010 but more recently failed to win a medal in either singles or mixed doubles at the Tokyo Olympics.
Lopez gave Spain an early lead over Ecuador in Group A with a 6-3 6-3 win over Roberto Quiroz at home in Madrid.
Then Pablo Carreno Busta edged Emilio Gomez 5-7 6-3 7-6 (5). Lopez was thrust into singles action when Carlos Alcaraz had to be dropped from the team after testing positive for the coronavirus on Thursday, as Spain was already without injured Rafael Nadal and Roberto Bautista Agut.
The United States, meanwhile, got off to a rough start against host Italy in Turin.
Lorenzo Sonego beat Reilly Opelka 6-3 7-6 (4) in his home city in Group E and then Jannik Sinner dominated against John Isner 6-2, 6-0. Rajeev Ram and Jack Sock beat Fabio Fognini and Lorenzo Musetti in doubles 7-6 (5) 6-2 to make the final score 2-1.
Still, for an Italian team missing its top player, Matteo Berrettini – who is injured – it was quite a start.
Each matchup on indoor hard courts is a best-of-three series featuring two singles and one doubles match.
The six group winners plus the two second-place teams with the best records based on sets and games will advance to the quarterfinals. The semifinals and final will be played in Madrid. (AP)
