Spain dominates Uruguay; Djokovic's double duty helps Serbia advance

Team Spain continues to show no mercy to the competition, demolishing Uruguay in singles competition on Monday at the ATP Cup in Perth.

Roberto Bautista Agut broke serve in his first game and never looked back during his 6-1, 6-2 demolition of Franco Roncadelli.

Roncadelli, who filled in for the injured Martin Cuevas, reached a career-high ranking of No. 1,657 in 2018. A ranking in the 1,600s essentially means he has earned roughly one ATP point in his career.

In the second rubber, Rafael Nadal took care of business, defeating Pablo Cuevas for the fifth time in his career, 6-2, 6-1. The Spaniard has retained his stellar form from 2019, and continues to appear unbeatable while wearing the Spanish red and yellow. His serve was once again a major strength, mixing in serve and volley effectively. Thankfully for his competition, the format is best two out of three.

“It was a very positive victory against an opponent I hugely respect,” Nadal said in his post-match interview.

Getty Images

Meanwhile, in Brisbane, Serbia's Novak Djokovic notched his 16th consecutive victory over France's Gael Monfils, 6-3, 6-2. Monfils has no answer for Djokovic’s rock-solid game plan. The Serb is careful not to give Monfils too many targets or angles to work with, and simply suffocates him with his trademark rally tolerance and deep hitting.

In the first rubber, Benoit Paire survived a late comeback from Dusan Lajovic. Paire was in full control but coughed up a break late in the second set and opened the door for the Serb. Paire is thriving with all his team’s support.

It all set up a winner-take-all doubles match, with Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin taking on Djokovic and dangerous doubles player Viktor Troicki. In the end, Djokovic's double duty resulted in two wins for Serbia, which secured a spot in the quarterfinal stage: