Davis Cup Finals 2019, Day 2: Rafael Nadal leads Spain to victory; Canada through to quarter-finals

Having finished the season as the World No. 1, Rafael Nadal carried that form into the Davis Cup Finals in Madrid to secure a win over World No. 17 Karen Khachanov and guide Spain to a 2-1 victory over Russia.

Spain did not have the best of starts in their Group B face-off with Russia as Moscow Open champion Andrey Rublev showed tremendous resilience to come back from a set down and upset the ninth-ranked Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(0). Spain's hopes then fully rested on Nadal's shoulders and the 19-time Grand Slam champion did not disappoint his adoring home fans.

Even a hectic outing at the recently-concluded ATP Finals in London could not douse the firepower of the Spaniard. Displaying his trademark fighting skills, the planet's best player delivered a 6-3, 7-6(7) masterclass against the former Paris Masters champion to level the tie en route to achieving his 25th consecutive win in the Davis Cup.

Thriller!@RafaelNadal holds on against Khachanov to level things up here in Madrid...🇪🇸1️⃣🆚1️⃣🇷🇺#DavisCupMadridFinals #byRakuten pic.twitter.com/G6Rr7Zzg8q

— Davis Cup by Rakuten Madrid Finals (@DavisCupFinals) November 19, 2019

After the southpaw brought them back into contention, Feliciano Lopez and Marcel Granollers completed the victory for Spain by beating Rublev and Khachanov 6-4, 7-6(5).

Canada made history on Day 2 of the Davis Cup Finals when they prevailed over USA for the first time in 16 attempts. While Vasek Pospisil edged Reilly Opelka 7-6(5), 7-6(7), Denis Shapovalov trounced Taylor Fritz 7-6(6), 6-3.

This was their second win in Group F following their defeat of Italy a day earlier. The twin wins enabled Canada to become the first team to secure a quarter-final spot.

In the other ties, France overcame Japan 2-1 in Group A. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga hardly broke sweat in his 6-2, 6-1 victory over Yasutaka Uchiyama but Japan rebounded through Yoshihito Nishioka, who beat Gael Monfils 7-5, 6-2. France then sealed the tie when the ATP Finals winners Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut narrowly edged Japan's Ben McLachlan and Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5.

Kazakhstan also achieved the same scoreline against Netherlands in Group E. Robin Haase put Netherlands in front with his 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(5) defeat of Alexander Bublik but the Kazakh team roared back when Mikhail Kukushkin pummelled Botic Van de Zandschulp 6-2, 6-2. They carried the momentum into the doubles rubber when Alexander Bublik and Mikhail Kukushkin paired up for a 6-4, 7-6(2) victory over Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer.

Argentina and Australia demolished Chile and Colombia 3-0 respectively. In the Group C face-off, Argentina's Guido Pella beat Chile's Nicolas Jarry 6-4, 6-3 while Diego Schwartzman brushed aside Cristian Garin 6-2, 6-2. In doubles, Maximo Gonzalez and Leonardo Mayer earned a 6-3, 7-5 win over Nicolas Jarry and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo.

Nick Kyrgios and Alex de Minaur both starred for Australia in their Group D encounter with Colombia. Kyrgios breezed past Alejandro Gonzalez 6-4, 6-4 and De Minaur made short work of Daniel Elahi Galan 6-4, 6-3.

The Aussie duo of John Peers and Jordan Thompson had a harder time on court though. They had to save four match points to complete a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6) upset win over the World No. 1 pair of Juan-Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in Davis Cup Finals.