ATP Cup: Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic sail through!

Sydney An ominous Rafael Nadal was in cruise control for Spain at the ATP Cup on Monday but Serbias Novak Djokovic was forced to sweat through brutal conditions for his second win in a rowThe Spanish World No 1 swept past Uruguays experienced Pablo Cuevas 62 61 in just 73 minutes in Perth to ensure his country won their second consecutive tie at the inaugural 24team event and moved closer to the quarterfinalsHe came on court after teammate and World No 10 Roberto Bautista Agut made short work of Franco Roncadelli 61 62 A great match I played better than the other day It was a very positive victory against an opponent for who I have a lot of respect said 19time Grand Slam winner Nadal Im super happyDjokovic was given a testing workout in his opening clash in Brisbane on Saturday by bigserving South African Kevin Anderson who took him to two tiebreakers He was back to his dominant best against Frances Gael Monfils but the sapping heat and humidity made the 63 62 win harder than the score suggestedIt was definitely one of the most humid conditions that I have ever had in my career Tonight was brutal said the World No 2 who extended his record over Monfils to 160 dating back 15 yearsObviously playing Gael you know you are going to have a lot of exchanges a lot of rallies He is a great fighter and a great friend of mine Tough luck today Eight of the 24 nations will make the quarterfinals in Sydney from the round robinmdashsix group winners and two best runners upOther winners Monday included Japan Croatia South Africa and Austria World No 4 Dominic Thiem bounced back from a shock loss in his opening match to beat tenacious Diego Schwartzman in two tough sets to steer Austria to victory over Argentina in SydneyEarlier Dennis Novak showed battling qualities to upset World No 25 Guido Pella after losing the first set 60 It kept Austria alive in Group E after they lost their opening tie to Croatia The unbeaten Croats are sitting pretty spearheaded by former US Open champion Marin Cilic who eased past Polands Kacper Zuk in straight setsmdashhis second victory in a rowAggressive Cilic advancesI felt that the level was quite good I was being aggressive said Cilic a losing Australian Open finalist in 2018 I had to stay mentally in the match really focusedOne of the biggest surprises has been Japan which has won both its tiesmdashagainst Uruguay and Georgiamdashdespite being without injured stars Kei Nishikori and Yasutaka Uchiyama their third best playerNishioka stars for JapanYoshihito Nishioka has stepped up beating World No 26 Nikoloz Basilashvili in straight sets in Perth after thrashing World No 45 Pablo Cuevas on Saturday I think I played my best tennis and very happy about this he said of his win against the Georgian where his pinpoint accuracy rattled Basilashvili South Africa spearheaded by Anderson remain in contention after cleansweeping Chile 30 in BrisbaneFormer World No 5 Anderson clinched the tie by beating Cristian Garin 60 63 after Lloyd Harriss comfortable win over Nicolas Jarry Raven Klaasen and Ruan Roelofse made it a whitewash when they battled past Garin and Jarry in the doubles 16 63 107 I think its been promising The things Im doing the things were working on seeing said AndersonCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever