<p>Rafael Nadal made a seamless transition from hard court to clay when he crushed Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 6-0, 6-0, 6-4 to give Spain a commanding 2-0 lead in their Davis Cup World Group playoff in Madrid on Friday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Turning out for his country only four days after his US Open triumph in New York, the world number two showed no sign of fatigue or sympathy for his 92nd-ranked opponent as he dismantled the hapless Stakhovsky in devastating fashion at the futuristic "Magic Box" venue.<br /><br />Stakhovsky, who caused a sensation at Wimbledon this year when he beat seven-times champion Roger Federer in the second round, raised his arms and was given a rousing cheer when he won the opening game of the third set.<br /><br />He found the inspiration to hold serve three more times before Nadal secured the crucial break to lead 5-4 and clinched victory on his first match point when Stakhovsky sent a backhand service return sailing beyond the baseline.<br /><br />It was the first time in 769 career singles matches that Nadal has won the opening two sets of a best-of-five set encounter 6-0.<br /><br />In other World Group playoff matches, world number three Andy Murray beat 16-year-old Croatian Borna Coric 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 as Great Britain ended the opening day 1-1 in Umag.<br />Switzerland were unable to call on Roger Federer but took a 2-0 lead against Ecuador, with US Open semifinalist Stanislas Wawrinka getting his side off to a winning start.<br /><br />Results: World Group play-offs: At Madrid: Spain leads Ukraine 2-0 (Fernando Verdasco bt Alexandr Dolgopolov 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2; Rafael Nadal bt Sergiy Stakhovsy 6-0, 6-0, 6-4).<br />At Groningen: Netherlands leads Austria 2-0 (Robin Haase bt Oliver Marach 6-4, 6-3, 6-1; Thiemo De Bakker bt Jurgen Melzer 5-7, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1).<br /><br />At Umag: Croatia tied with Great Britain 1-1 (Borna Coric lt to Andy Murray 3-6, 0-6, 3-6; Ivan Dogic bt Daniel Evans 6-3, 6-2, 6-3).<br /><br />At Neuchatel: Switzerland leads Ecuador 2-0 (Stanislas Wawrinka bt Emilio Gomez 6-4, 6-3, 6-3; Marco Chiudinelli bt Julio Campozano 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7).<br /><br />At Ulm: Germany leads Brazil 2-0 (Philipp Kohlschreiber bt R Dutra Silva 6-3, 7-5, 6-4; Florian Mayer bt Thomaz Bellucci 6-4, 6-1, 6-2).<br /><br />At Warsaw: Poland trails Australia 0-2 (Lukasz Kabot lt to Lleyton Hewitt 1-6, 3-6, 2-6 and Michal Przysiezny lt to Bernard Tomic 5-7, 6-7 (1-7), 4-6).<br /><br />At Antwerp: Belgium tied with Israel 1-1 (Steve Darcis bt Dudi Sela 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 and Ruben Bemelmans lt to Amir Weintraub 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (4-7), 4-6).<br /><br />At Tokyo: Japan tied with Columbia 1-1 (Kei Nishikori bt Alejandro Falla 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and Go Soeda lt to Santiago Giraldo 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, 1-6). </p>
<p>Rafael Nadal made a seamless transition from hard court to clay when he crushed Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 6-0, 6-0, 6-4 to give Spain a commanding 2-0 lead in their Davis Cup World Group playoff in Madrid on Friday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Turning out for his country only four days after his US Open triumph in New York, the world number two showed no sign of fatigue or sympathy for his 92nd-ranked opponent as he dismantled the hapless Stakhovsky in devastating fashion at the futuristic "Magic Box" venue.<br /><br />Stakhovsky, who caused a sensation at Wimbledon this year when he beat seven-times champion Roger Federer in the second round, raised his arms and was given a rousing cheer when he won the opening game of the third set.<br /><br />He found the inspiration to hold serve three more times before Nadal secured the crucial break to lead 5-4 and clinched victory on his first match point when Stakhovsky sent a backhand service return sailing beyond the baseline.<br /><br />It was the first time in 769 career singles matches that Nadal has won the opening two sets of a best-of-five set encounter 6-0.<br /><br />In other World Group playoff matches, world number three Andy Murray beat 16-year-old Croatian Borna Coric 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 as Great Britain ended the opening day 1-1 in Umag.<br />Switzerland were unable to call on Roger Federer but took a 2-0 lead against Ecuador, with US Open semifinalist Stanislas Wawrinka getting his side off to a winning start.<br /><br />Results: World Group play-offs: At Madrid: Spain leads Ukraine 2-0 (Fernando Verdasco bt Alexandr Dolgopolov 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2; Rafael Nadal bt Sergiy Stakhovsy 6-0, 6-0, 6-4).<br />At Groningen: Netherlands leads Austria 2-0 (Robin Haase bt Oliver Marach 6-4, 6-3, 6-1; Thiemo De Bakker bt Jurgen Melzer 5-7, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1).<br /><br />At Umag: Croatia tied with Great Britain 1-1 (Borna Coric lt to Andy Murray 3-6, 0-6, 3-6; Ivan Dogic bt Daniel Evans 6-3, 6-2, 6-3).<br /><br />At Neuchatel: Switzerland leads Ecuador 2-0 (Stanislas Wawrinka bt Emilio Gomez 6-4, 6-3, 6-3; Marco Chiudinelli bt Julio Campozano 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7).<br /><br />At Ulm: Germany leads Brazil 2-0 (Philipp Kohlschreiber bt R Dutra Silva 6-3, 7-5, 6-4; Florian Mayer bt Thomaz Bellucci 6-4, 6-1, 6-2).<br /><br />At Warsaw: Poland trails Australia 0-2 (Lukasz Kabot lt to Lleyton Hewitt 1-6, 3-6, 2-6 and Michal Przysiezny lt to Bernard Tomic 5-7, 6-7 (1-7), 4-6).<br /><br />At Antwerp: Belgium tied with Israel 1-1 (Steve Darcis bt Dudi Sela 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 and Ruben Bemelmans lt to Amir Weintraub 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (4-7), 4-6).<br /><br />At Tokyo: Japan tied with Columbia 1-1 (Kei Nishikori bt Alejandro Falla 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and Go Soeda lt to Santiago Giraldo 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, 1-6). </p>