ATP Cup: Novak Djokovic-inspired Serbia beat France to reach quarter-finals

NOVAK Djokovic led Serbia to the quarter-finals of the inaugural ATP Cup by winning both his singles and doubles matches against group rivals France.

After France led through Benoit Paire’s win over Dusan Lajovic, world number two Djokovic beat Gael Monfils 6-3 6-2.

Djokovic and Viktor Troicki beat Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin to win 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 10-3 at 00:40 local time in Brisbane.

Rafael Nadal’s Spain beat Uruguay to close on the last eight in Australia.

After world number 10 Roberto Bautista Agut thrashed Franco Roncadelli 6-1 6-2, world number one Nadal eased past Pablo Cuevas 6-2 6-1 to seal the Perth tie before Feliciano Lopez and Pablo Carreno Busta beat Ariel Behar and Juan Martin Fumeaux 6-1 3-6 10-3 in the doubles.

The one-sided victory in the best-of-three tie completed a second whitewash for the Davis Cup champions, who beat Georgia on Saturday.

They will finish as Group B winners if they beat Japan on Wednesday.

Austria boosted their chances of qualification from Group E with a 3-0 win against Argentina in Sydney.

World number four Dominic Thiem beat Argentine number one Diego Schwartzman after team-mate Dennis Novak recovered from a first-set bagel to beat Guido Pella 0-6 6-4 6-4.

Oliver Marach and Jurgen Melzer won the doubles as Austria put their opening defeat by Croatia behind them.

The ATP Cup features six groups of four teams, who each play three round-robin ties in an event played across three Australian cities, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. The six group winners, plus the best two runners-up, will progress to the quarter-finals.

Great Britain must beat winless Moldova in Tuesday’s final group tie to stand any chance of reaching the quarter-finals.

Without the injured Andy Murray, Tim Henman’s team lost Friday’s opener to Bulgaria before fighting back to beat Belgium on Sunday.