Rafael Nadal cast off fatigue and his U.S. Open final loss to Novak Djokovic to thrash Richard Gasquet in Friday's opening rubber of the Davis Cup tennis semifinal to hand the host and four-time champion a 1-0 lead.
World No.2 Nadal blitzed Gasquet 6-3, 6-0, 6-1 to underline the Spaniards' status of favourites on home clay as they look to advance to a final against either defending champion Serbia or Argentina.
David Ferrer was equally impressive in his straight-set win over Gilles Simon in the second match. Ferrer conceded just six games in the entire match.
Nadal had admitted to tiredness after his U.S. Open final defeat, but said that “if I come, it is above all to defend my country”.
But he gave Gasquet no chance in 30 degrees Celsius heat, breaking the Frenchman at the first time of asking and never giving his rival the hint of a chance before an enthusiastic 10,000 crowd.
“Even a tired Nadal remains an exceptional player,” said Gasquet.
Djokovic pulls out
Meanwhile, World No.1 Novak Djokovic pulled out of Serbia's opening Davis Cup semifinal rubber against Argentina on Friday, suffering from fatigue as well as a back injury. Viktor Troicki, who replaced him, lost to David Nalbandian in four sets as Argentina took a 1-0 lead.
The results (semifinals): At Cardoba: Spain 2 France 0 (Rafael Nadal bt Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-0, 6-1; David Ferrer bt Gilles Simon 6-1, 6-4, 6-1).
At Belgrade: Serbia 0 Argentina 1 (Viktor Troicki lost to David Nalbandian 4-6, 6-4, 2-6, 3-6).
