Nadal confesses he’s bit Rafa round edges
Rafa Nadal admits he has room for improvement despite giving Spain a crucial lead over Georgia at the inaugural ATP Cup.
Nadal beat Nikoloz Basilashvili
6-3 7-5 to give Spain a 2-0 lead in the best-of-three tie in Australia.
The world No.1 took less than two hours to win 6-3 7-5 in Perth but looked rusty after a six-week lay-off.
He twice failed to serve out victory from 5-2 ahead in the second set, allowing Basilashvili to level at 5-5, before he finally secured the win.
Nadal said: “It was a positive victory for me and my team. I had the match under control against a good player. There are things I can improve but I have to be satisfied.”
The ATP Cup features 24 nations competing in Perth, Brisbane and Sydney over 10 days ahead of this month’s Australian Open.
Novak Djokovic had to dig deep to edge past South African Kevin Anderson and win the day for Serbia.
The superstar lost his cool and turned on the umpire and Brisbane crowd before eventually winning 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (8-6). Anderson has been sidelined by injury since last year’s Wimbledon but had the Grand Slam master rattled.
Djokovic got into a lengthy row at one point with the chair umpire then ripped into the crowd for their disturbance during a rally.
After the win he said: “What a way to start the year. I was 4-1 up and had some break points but Kevin upped it. I weathered the storm.” In other matches, Austria’s world No.4 Dominic Thiem lost to Borna Coric of Croatia.
Gael Monfils and Benoit Paire won their singles matches to help France seal their tie against Chile 2-1.
And Argentinian doubles pair Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni beat Poles Guido Pella and Hubert Hurkacz in scorching Sydney temperatures.