Carlos Alcaraz got a stroke of luck as he helped Spain make a winning start to the Davis Cup Finals group-stage campaign against Czechia as Tomas Machac retired through injury. (More Sports News)
The French Open and Wimbledon champion droppedꦕ the first set 6-7 (3-7), but ralli🌃ed to finish the second 6-1, forcing a decider after getting two vital breaks.
However, Machac pulled up in the opening game of the third set with cramp and was unable to carry on after one hour and 41 minutes on the c🍨ourt.
It followed Roberto Bautista's flying start in their opening 🌞singles match in Group B as he cruised past Jiri Lehecka 7-6 (7-1) 6-4, with the Czech making 27 unforced errors as he failed to find an 🅰edge.
In the doubles, Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers then had to dig deep, coming from behind♏ to beat Adam Pavlasek and Jakub Mensik in three sets to give Spain a 3-0 victory and take them top of the group.
Meanwhile, Great Britain a﷽lso made a bright start to their campaign in Group D, despite US Open semi-finalist Jack Draper sitting out.
Dan Evans got them started in Manchester with a hard-earned 7-6 (7-3👍) 6-2 victory over Eero Vasa of Finland, converting both of his break points in theꦿ second set.
Billy Harris followed that up with an impressive tournament debutꩲ, looking unflapp✅able as he earned the hosts an unattainable lead with his 6-4 7-6 (7-4) win over Otto Virtanen.
Finland got themselves on the board in the doubles though, with Evans and🔯 Neal Skupski unable to get the better of Harri Heliovaara and Virtan💛en ensuring it was only a 2-1 loss.
Elsewhere, the United States joined Germany at the top of Group C with their 3-0 win over Chile and 🐻Italy's Matteo Arnaldi held off a spirited Thiago Monteiro to put themꦿ in control against Brazil in Group A after Matteo Berrettini's earlier victory.
