Rafael Nadal showed no hint of a US Open hangover as he crushed Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-0, 6-0, 6-4 to put Spain 2-0 up on Ukraine in their Davis Cup World Group play-off in Madrid on Friday.
The new US Open champion returned to action less than four days after securing a second success at Flushing Meadows.
Yet he showed no signs of fatigue as he mastered his favorite clay surface and in so doing inflicted a humiliating defeat on the world 92nd ranked player.
Earlier, Fernando Verdasco beat world No. 40 Alexandr Dolgopolov 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 to put Spain firmly in command.
Another player to dish out a tennis lesson was Britain’s Andy Murray, who thumped 16-year-old Borna Coric 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 as Croatia and Britain finished the day tied at 1-1 in Umag.
The US Open junior champion initially caused Britain’s world No. 3 problems, but from 3-3 in the first set, Murray won nine games in a row to take complete control.
However, Ivan Dodig then defeated Murray’s British teammate Daniel Evans 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 as Croatia drew level.
In other play-off ties, Australia took a decisive 2-0 lead over Poland in Warsaw as Lleyton Hewitt romped past Lukasz Kubot 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 and Bernard Tomic followed up with a 7-5, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 victory over Michal Przysiezny.
Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka made a flying start to his country’s meeting against Ecuador in Neuchatel.
Wawrinka beat Emilio Gomez 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 before Marco Chiudinelli then made it 2-0 for Switzerland with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (9/7) win over Julio Cesar Campozano.
Philipp Kohlschreiber and Florian Mayer put Germany in control of their clash with Brazil.
Kohlschreiber beat Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 while Mayer coasted to a 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 success against Tomaz Bellucci.
In a match that started on Thursday, Israel went 2-1 up on Belgium after Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram beat Steve Darcis and Olivier Rochus 6-3, 5-7, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the doubles.
The Netherlands took a 2-0 lead over Austria as Robin Haase beat Andreas Haider-Maurer 6-4, 6-3, 6-1, and Thiemo de Bakker defeated Jurgen Melzer 5-7, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1.
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