Spain soars into ATP Cup quarter-finals as Canada remains in playoff limbo
Spain advanced to the quarter-finals of the ATP Cup even before Rafael Nadal stepped on to the court Wednesday at the Perth Arena.
Spain, which won the Davis Cup in Madrid with a finals victory over Canada, stayed in the hunt for its second international team victory in seven weeks when Roberto Bautista Agut beat Japan’s Go Soeda 6-2, 6-4.
Japan needed to beat Spain 3-0 in order for the Nadal-led team not to advance to the Final Eight in Sydney beginning Thursday. Nadal was scheduled to play the next singles match against Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan.
On Friday, Serbia takes on the yet-to-be determined second runner-up — likely Canada or Belgium — while Spain plays the first runner-up in the other quarter-final.
Canada is relying on a complicated scenario to move on at the inaugural tournament. For Canada to advance, it needs Spain to beat Japan 3-0, both France and South Africa to not win 3-0, Poland to beat Austria and Croatia to beat Argentina.
Poland clinched its tie against Austria before the doubles match. Spain’s tie is still being contested, while the other match-ups are slated for later in the day across Australia.
In other early matches on the final day of group play, Serbia, which had already qualified for the quarter-finals, had a winning 2-0 lead over Chile in Group A. Dusan Lajovic beat Nicolas Jarry 6-2, 7-6 (3) before Novak Djokovic defeated Cristian Garin 6-3, 6-3.
The six group winners and two best second-place finishers advance to the finals in Sydney.
In the quarter-final lineup for Thursday at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney, Australia plays Britain followed by Russia taking on the Group E winner, which will be decided later Wednesday in Sydney. Croatia, 2-0, faces Argentina in the late match.
