US Open champion Rafael Nadal was on deck to help Spain retain its Davis Cup World Group status by participating at the playoff match against Ukraine last weekend. The Spaniard participated in one singles and one doubles match resulting to wins. His team eventually defeated Ukraine in a 5-0 whitewash.
Nadal defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-0, 6-0, 6-4 in Friday’s singles rubber and he teamed up with Marc Lopez to defeat Stakhovsky and Denys Molchanov 6-2, 6 (6)-7, 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday’s doubles rubber.
“We played at a good level,” Nadal said. “In my case, I had a moment I felt tired but later we were able to recover. We achieved our goal and that’s the important thing.”
Nadal was fresh from winning his 13th Grand Slam singles title at the US Open last week. This is his first Davis Cup match since 2011.
“Rafa’s commitment to the team was critical and we have to be grateful for that,” Spain’s Davis Cup captain Alex Corretja said.
Spain is a five-time Davis Cup champion.
