Nadal defeats Khachanov at Davis Cup finals to keep hopes for Spain high

Rafael Nadal defeated Karen Khachanov in the second match of tie against Russia at the Davis Cup finals in Madrid.

World number 1 Nadal had a difficult task ahead of him. Russia won 3-0 against Croatia on Day 1 and Roberto Bautista lost the first match to Andrey Rublev 6-3, 3-6 and 6-7. To be able to advance from the first place of the Group B, Spain needed Nadal's victory.

And the king of clay did not let home supporters down. He used his 2nd break point in the first set to gain a lead. He turned one break point he was facing later away and won the first set 6-3.

The second match was much more dramatic. First, it was Khachanov who had a break point, but did not use it in 8th game. And in the following game, Nadal had also one break point opportunity, which he did not use. And so a tie-break needed to decide about the third set. Nadal led already 3-1 in the tie-break, but Khachanov managed to win 3 points in a row to gain the lead 4-3. In the dramatic ending, Rafa kept his cool and won 9-7 in the tie-break to level the score for Spain.

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