Serbia kicked-off their Davis Cup by Rakuten Finals campaign with a 3-0 win over Japan on Wednesday.
Filip Krajinovic and Novak Djokovic both won their singles matches to secure Serbia’s opening victory in Madrid.
In the first match of the day Krajinovic beat Yuichi Sugita (ATP #102) 6-2, 6-4, then Novak cruised past Yoshihito Nishioka (ATP #78) 6-1, 6-2.
Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki defeated Ben McLachlan and Yasutaka Uchiyama 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) in the doubles rubber.
Serbia will play their second tie against France on Thursday at 11:00 CET in a battle for the top of the group standings.
In the revamped Davis Cup format debuting this year, teams play two singles and a doubles in each tie, with the group winners advancing to the knockout stage along with the two best second-place finishers in the six groups.
Photo: AP
