Spain beat the Czech Republic 3-0 as they began their Davis Cup Finals group stage campaign with victory on Wednesday.
Spain boasted Carlos Alcaraz in their ranks but the world number three was given a scare against Czech Republic’s Tomas Machac, losing the first set tiebreak before winning the second set 6-1 at which point Machac was forced to retire to hand Spain an unassailable 2-0 lead in Group B in Valencia. Roberto Bautista-Agut had earlier beaten Jiri Lehecka 7-6(1) 6-4.
In the doubles Carlos Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers had to come from behind to beat Jakub Mensik and Adam Pavlasek in a competitive dead rubber. Alcaraz sealed a 3-0 overall victory in the tie with a sumptuous lob.
