<p id="thickbox_headline">Novak Djokovic sped past Austria's Dennis Novak as Serbia thumped Austria 3-0 in their Davis Cup opening match at Innsbruck on Friday.</p>.<p>Djokovic took an hour to beat Novak 6-3, 6-2 after Dusan Lajovic saw off Gerald Melzer 7-6, 3-6, 7-5 behind closed doors due to a resurgence of the coronavirus in Austria.</p>.<p>Nikola Cacic and Filip Krajinovic then beat Oliver Marach and Philipp Oswald 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.</p>.<p>Djokovic is attempting to end an already memorable year on a high after claiming three of the season's four Grand Slams.</p>.<p>"I love to play for my country, when they need me, I'm here," Djokovic said after his match.</p>.<p>Elsewhere Italy beat the United States 2-1 in Turin and Spain beat Ecuador in Madrid.</p>.<p>Backed by a hearty home crowd Italy raced into a 2-0 lead over the States thanks to wins from Lorenzo Sonego and Jannik Sinner.</p>.<p>Sonego, the world No.27, was ecstatic.</p>.<p>"I played the best tennis of my life," he claimed after seeing off Reilly Opelka 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).</p>.<p>Sinner then pulverised a static John Isner 6-2, 6-0 in 62 minutes.</p>.<p>In the doubles rubber Rajeev Ram and Jack Sock struck back for the States in a 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 win over Simone Bolleli and Fabio Fognini to make it 2-1, while Colombia are the third team in Group E.</p>.<p>The 40-year-old Feliciano López opened Spain's title defence with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Roberto Quiroz of Ecuador.</p>.<p>Pablo Carreno Busta bt Emilio Gomez 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 to put Spain 2-0 up.</p>.<p>"It' a gift to be back here playing the singles rubbers, I never expected it, I was supposed to play in the doubles but after everything that happened this week here I am."</p>.<p>"I think I did okay," he said, referring to the absence of Carlos Alcaraz, who went into quarantine on Thursday after testing positive for Covid-19.</p>.<p>On the opening day of the revamped 2021 finals brothers Elias and Mikael Ymer helped Sweden sweep aside Canada, France fought back to down the Czech Republic and Croatia crushed Australia.</p>.<p>The Davis Cup, which began life back in 1900 as a bilateral contest between Britain and the United States, was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic.</p>.<p>This year's competition sees 12 qualifiers - Australia, Austria, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Sweden and USA - joined by the previous edition's semi-finalists - Spain, Canada, Great Britain and the Russian Tennis Federation.</p>.<p>These are joined by two wild card nations France and Serbia.</p>.<p>These 18 nations are divided into six groups of three, with winners and the top pair of second places going into the quarter-finals pot.</p>.<p>The semi-finals and December 5 final will all be played in the Spanish capital, reward for the team that won the title two years ago after 2020 was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.</p>.<p><strong>Check out the latest DH videos:</strong></p>
<p id="thickbox_headline">Novak Djokovic sped past Austria's Dennis Novak as Serbia thumped Austria 3-0 in their Davis Cup opening match at Innsbruck on Friday.</p>.<p>Djokovic took an hour to beat Novak 6-3, 6-2 after Dusan Lajovic saw off Gerald Melzer 7-6, 3-6, 7-5 behind closed doors due to a resurgence of the coronavirus in Austria.</p>.<p>Nikola Cacic and Filip Krajinovic then beat Oliver Marach and Philipp Oswald 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.</p>.<p>Djokovic is attempting to end an already memorable year on a high after claiming three of the season's four Grand Slams.</p>.<p>"I love to play for my country, when they need me, I'm here," Djokovic said after his match.</p>.<p>Elsewhere Italy beat the United States 2-1 in Turin and Spain beat Ecuador in Madrid.</p>.<p>Backed by a hearty home crowd Italy raced into a 2-0 lead over the States thanks to wins from Lorenzo Sonego and Jannik Sinner.</p>.<p>Sonego, the world No.27, was ecstatic.</p>.<p>"I played the best tennis of my life," he claimed after seeing off Reilly Opelka 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).</p>.<p>Sinner then pulverised a static John Isner 6-2, 6-0 in 62 minutes.</p>.<p>In the doubles rubber Rajeev Ram and Jack Sock struck back for the States in a 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 win over Simone Bolleli and Fabio Fognini to make it 2-1, while Colombia are the third team in Group E.</p>.<p>The 40-year-old Feliciano López opened Spain's title defence with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Roberto Quiroz of Ecuador.</p>.<p>Pablo Carreno Busta bt Emilio Gomez 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 to put Spain 2-0 up.</p>.<p>"It' a gift to be back here playing the singles rubbers, I never expected it, I was supposed to play in the doubles but after everything that happened this week here I am."</p>.<p>"I think I did okay," he said, referring to the absence of Carlos Alcaraz, who went into quarantine on Thursday after testing positive for Covid-19.</p>.<p>On the opening day of the revamped 2021 finals brothers Elias and Mikael Ymer helped Sweden sweep aside Canada, France fought back to down the Czech Republic and Croatia crushed Australia.</p>.<p>The Davis Cup, which began life back in 1900 as a bilateral contest between Britain and the United States, was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic.</p>.<p>This year's competition sees 12 qualifiers - Australia, Austria, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Sweden and USA - joined by the previous edition's semi-finalists - Spain, Canada, Great Britain and the Russian Tennis Federation.</p>.<p>These are joined by two wild card nations France and Serbia.</p>.<p>These 18 nations are divided into six groups of three, with winners and the top pair of second places going into the quarter-finals pot.</p>.<p>The semi-finals and December 5 final will all be played in the Spanish capital, reward for the team that won the title two years ago after 2020 was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.</p>.<p><strong>Check out the latest DH videos:</strong></p>