ATP Cup: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic kickstart New Year on winning note; Dominic Thiem slumps to defeat

The New Year kickstarted on a winning note for Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic as they won with straight sets at the ATP Cup. The world number four Dominic Thiem, however, slumped to defeat.

Top-ranked Nadal was troubled by Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili, but he overcame it racing to a 6-3, 7-5 victory. His long-time rival Djokovic was also put to test by South Africa’s Kevin Anderson before he won 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (8/6).

Their wins ensured Spain and Serbia clinched their ties at the inaugural 24-nation team event, where countries are split into six groups across Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

The top eight from the round-robin go straight into the knockout phase in Sydney.

France, Argentina, Croatia and Japan also began the tournament winning their ties and joined Day 1 victors Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Norway, Russia and Australia.

“I’m super, super happy to be here in Perth for the first time in my life. It’s an amazing arena and a great crowd,” said Nadal, reported PTI.

“It was tough first match of the season, not an easy start. But I think I played a great game.” Earlier, his teammate Roberto Bautista Agut crushed Aleksandre Metreveli 6-0, 6-0.

As for Serbian superstar Djokovic, he admitted it was a testing encounter against Anderson. “What a way to start the year,” he said. “He was on fire tonight - I think the quality of tennis was quite high. “I was very pleased with the way I kind of weathered the storm.”

His teammate Dusan Lajovic outlasted Lloyd Harris 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.

Austria’s Thiem along with Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas have all been beaten in their opening ATP Cup clashes.

Thiem - who won five titles last year - had six break points in the third set against Croatia’s Borna Coric, but failed to convert them.

“It’s really nice to beat him because at the end of last season I was not playing well and this will give me a lot of confidence,” said Coric who suffered six losses in a row in late 2019, reported PTI.