Rafael Nadal’s Spain eased into the quarter-finals at the Davis Cup finals, beating a weakened Croatia to send the defending champions out of the event.

With Croatia missing Marin Cilic and Borna Coric, doubles specialist Nikola Mektic had to play singles against Roberto Bautista Agut, losing 6-1 6-3.

Nadal then beat Borna Gojo 6-4 6-3.

Meanwhile, Serbia, who won the Davis Cup in 2010, put themselves in pole position in Group A with a 3-0 victory over Japan at the Madrid event.

Filip Krajinovic defeated Yuichi Sugita 6-2 6-4, Novak Djokovic thrashed Yoshihito Nishioka 6-1 6-2, and Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki clinched a tight doubles match against Ben McLachlan and Yasutaka Uchiyama, winning 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4).

Germany also triumphed 3-0 as they defeated Argentina. Philipp Kohlschreiber battled back from a set down to defeat Guido Pella 1-6 6-3 6-4 and Jan-Lennard Struff was too good for Diego Schwartzman with a 6-3 7-6 (10-8) success.

In the doubles, the German pairing of Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies overcame Maximo Gonzalez and Leonardo Maye after the longest tie-break in Davis Cup history as they won 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (20-18).

Great Britain’s near nine-hour tie with the Netherlands,which ended in a 2-1 victory for GB, meant that the tie between Australia and Belgium to decide who will win Group D started two hours later than scheduled.

Spain’s victory over Russia on Tuesday had finished in the early hours of Wednesday and a similarly late finish looked on the cards for both Australia v Belgium and the Group F match between the United States and Italy as questions over scheduling arose at the re-vamped competition.

The United States were at the centre of controversy after group winners Canada conceded their doubles rubber on Tuesday when they had an unassailable 2-0 lead.

It meant the US were given a 6-0 6-0 win for the doubles, which could potentially help them qualify for the last eight as one of the two best runners-up.

Organisers the ITF said three Canadian players had been declared unfit to play, but Britain’s Andy Murray was among critics of the decision to forfeit, saying: “I don’t think that’s good.

“So where Canada may have felt that that was a dead rubber in theory for them because they were already through, that could have implications to all of the teams potentially that might finish in second place.”

• GB win thrilling Davis Cup opener
• Live scores, schedule and results
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Andy Murray survived a scare against Dutch world number 179 Tallon Griekspoor before giving Great Britain a winning start at the inaugural Davis Cup finals in Madrid.

Murray, 32, lost the opener in the new best-of-three sets format before winning 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 7-6 (7-5).

The group stage tie continues when British number one Dan Evans plays Robin Haase later on Wednesday.

Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski will play in the doubles to round off the opener.

Britain, who won the 2015 Davis Cup in the previous format, have been drawn against the Netherlands and Kazakhstan – who they face on Thursday – in the group stage.

Eighteen nations are contesting a football-style knockout tournament for the first time to determine the Davis Cup champions, with the winners of the six groups and the two best-placed runners-up reaching the quarter-finals.

• Innovation or sacrilege? What you need to know about the new Davis Cup
• Andy Murray cautious of schedule
• ‘Format had to change’ – Jamie Murray

Brilliant atmosphere & thrilling finale

Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique has overseen the transformation of the 119-year-old competition into the season-ending finals, which has been met with fierce criticism from some and doubts about the atmosphere such a format would create.

While Spain’s opening match on Tuesday night was unsurprisingly watched by a partisan and full crowd at the Caja Magica, some matches have struggled to attend spectators.

Britain’s opening tie against the Dutch was not expected to be one and so it proved as about 1,000 Union Jack-clad fans created a boisterous atmosphere on a 2,500-capacity third show court which was about three-quarters full by most estimates.

The crowd was given plenty of entertainment by Murray and Griekspoor in a gripping match full of ebbs and flows, a final-set tie-break providing a thrilling finale which eventually separated the pair.

Supporters from both nations were left standing on their feet and roaring their player towards victory in the tie-break, with Murray sealing the type of win he has earned throughout his illustrious career after two hours and 51 minutes.

“The atmosphere was one of the things players were worried about in a neutral venue but both sets of fans were fantastic,” Murray said.

The new Davis Cup format

Eighteen nations are split into six groups of three, with the group winners and two best-placed runners-up progressing to the quarter-finals.

The two semi-finals will be played on Saturday, 23 November with the two winners going through to the final on Sunday, 24 November.

Schedule – who plays when?

Group stage: Monday, 18 November – Thursday, 21 November

Quarter-finals: Thursday, 21 November – Friday, 22 November

Semi-finals: Saturday, 23 November

Final: Sunday, 24 November

More to follow.

• Live scores, schedule and results
• Alerts: Get tennis news sent to your phone

Judy Murray says it is a “massive honour” to be given a lifetime achievement award by UK Coaching for her services to tennis.

Murray, mother of Grand Slam-winners Andy and Jamie, has been coaching for 30 years, including a stint as Great Britain’s Fed Cup captain.

Most recently, the 60-year-old has invested her own money to launch the Miss-Hits tennis programme to teach girls worldwide to play the sport.

The ceremony is in London next month.

Murray said: “Having started as a volunteer at Dunblane Sports Club when my kids were toddlers, I’ve experienced every step of the coaching journey from local community club right up to Grand Slams, Olympics and Fed Cup, so I understand the importance of having great coaches at every stage and every level of the game.”

Jamie Murray is part of the Great Britain team competing in the inaugural Davis Cup finals and, in his latest BBC Sport column from Madrid, talks about the controversial new format, representing his country again alongside brother Andy, plus how Real Madrid tours, pool and ‘cornhole’ games have fostered team spirit.

Everyone in tennis was in agreement that the Davis Cup needed to change.

The top players weren’t able to commit to the event, not because they didn’t want to, or because they didn’t like the Davis Cup, it was just because it took so much time out of their schedule during the year.

If you got to the final it could be eight weeks in your year and with the fixtures always played right after the Grand Slams, ATP Finals or other big events, it meant the ties didn’t come at the right time of the calendar.

That is a shame because it is amazing event and, I think, when a large majority of tennis players look back on their careers, the matches they will remember will be the Davis Cup matches because they stir up the most emotion and have been played in front of cracking atmospheres. I’ll certainly remember them the most anyway.

• Live scores and schedules
• How to follow the Davis Cup

But the ITF had to make a change, they have made a change, some people don’t like it and some people do. But this is the first year since Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique and his Kosmos group got involved so we have to see how it goes.

From a player’s perspective, the format is pretty cool and it is fun to be here as a team along with 17 others, it is cool to see all the players together playing for their country and wearing their national colours.

There are a lot of good teams here, I know not all the top players in the world are playing, some didn’t qualify and a couple chose not to, but there are a lot of great teams and there should be a lot of great tennis this week.

It doesn’t surprise me that a lot of the top players are here, first and foremost because players love representing their countries, but also because there has been a huge injection of cash from Kosmos. There are definitely financial incentives for guys to come and play here.

I always thought 95% of the players would play if they qualified, why wouldn’t you? Financially it makes sense and you have the prestige of playing in the Davis Cup.

Most of all it is a fun week, you’re here with your friends, you’re part of a team.

‘We hope the stadiums will be packed’

There has been some concern about the size of the crowds and suggestions a few ties at the Caja Magica will be far from sold out.

I hope people do come out and support the event because it has the potential to be a great event.

It’s like the football World Cup, a lot of those matches aren’t necessarily glamour matches and the stadiums aren’t full.

I’m sure it’ll be the same here but for the real big matches we hope the stadiums will be packed and provide a great atmosphere which showcase potentially the best tournament in tennis.

I genuinely don’t how the fans will react and whether the crowds will improve as the tournament moves through the week and develops over the next few years.

Unless you’re Spanish, or you’re living here in Madrid, there is a considerable cost to come for potentially a week, but I understand that a fair few Brits will be here for our matches against the Netherlands on Wednesday and Kazakhstan on Thursday.

Madrid has a Masters tournament in May where you get the best 50 men and best 50 women competing so now the city has got a new event with not all the top 50 competing, and without the women, so it might not be as attractive for them to come and watch because they’ve already seen tennis a few months earlier.

I hope not but we will have to wait and see then go from there.

But as far as the event goes – the organisation, logistics and set-up – it has been great.

• What the new format looks like

‘I’m happy to be representing Britain again with my brother’

Of course, my younger brother Andy is part of Great Britain team again, only 10 months after he had a major hip operation which left him unsure whether he’d play again.

It is great to have him back playing and fit and healthy and committed to playing for Great Britain in the Davis Cup – and it boosts our chances in the competition.

It will be a lot of tennis for him in the next five days if we are to go through the tournament to the final, which will mean playing every day.

We’re always going to be a more dangerous team with him playing and if he performs to the level that we all know he is capable of then we have a great chance of going far.

Truthfully I’d never thought about whether we’d play together again in the Davis Cup during his injury struggles, but I know he loves playing and being part of a team so I’m happy he is back.

For us the motivation is playing for our country and getting together with a great team.

• Murray cautious of heavy schedule

‘The tourists at Real Madrid didn’t know what was happening!’

The British squad came out to Madrid last Wednesday and Leon Smith, our Davis Cup captain, has done a great job of creating a great team spirit among the team, not just the five players but all the support staff as well.

Leon makes sure when we turn up that we have a good, fun week and everybody enjoys it regardless of what the result is and that’s why I think we’ve had a lot of success in recent years.

He makes it fun for the players to come because he understands it can be an effort for the guys to play with another week out of the schedule.

We’ve done a few cool things around the city and a couple of days ago we went to the Santiago Bernabeu – Real Madrid’s stadium – that was great fun.

It is a nice tour – they’ve won everything haven’t they!

We saw the Ballon d’Ors, the Golden Boots, shirts of players from Alfredo di Stefano and Juanito to Ronaldo and Raul, we went into the dugouts and stood on the side of the pitch.

The other notable part of the tour was that we made Neal Skupski do his Davis Cup rookie speech in the Real Madrid press room!

He was supposed to do it at the official team dinner but it wasn’t possible so we got him unannounced in the press room.

He did the usual speech – thanking Leon for selecting him, what a great honour it was representing Britain, saying he was looking forward to playing – but the big difference was the location and that there were also a few tourists watching who didn’t know what was going on. No pressure!

We’ve also been having fun with a pool competition, we had the semi-finals and final on Tuesday night. Leon beat me and Andy – he hasn’t shut up about that – so I know he’s in the semi-finals.

The most fun activity is cornhole – an American game where you have a wooden board with a hole in the middle and you have to try and throw a bag in there – because it is mass participation and we have good fun.

I’m sure other sports teams do it but all of these activities have been a good way for team bonding and build our camaraderie going into the tournament.

Let’s hope we can go all the way to Sunday’s final!

Jamie Murray was speaking to BBC Sport’s Jonathan Jurejko in Madrid.

Andy Murray says he needs to be cautious about his workload at the revamped Davis Cup finals with the potential for Great Britain to play five ties in five days.

Murray, 32, is part of a British team that plays the Netherlands on Wednesday and Kazakhstan on Thursday.

If they progress through the group they will play a quarter-final tie on Friday before potential semi-final and final ties at the weekend.

“I need to think long term,” said Murray, who had hip surgery in January.

The former world number one has not completely ruled out playing doubles in Madrid, however, as 18 nations contest a football-style knockout tournament for the first time to determine the Davis Cup champions.

• France survive scare to beat Japan
• Holders Croatia suffer defeat by Russia
• How the new format will look

Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique has overseen the transformation of the 119-year-old competition into a season-ending finals, which has led to heavy criticism from some.

While some ATP players have questioned the involvement of a footballer in the dismantling of a tennis tradition, Murray said he was “open to change” and urged everyone to give the new format a chance.

The three-time Grand Slam champion is one of three singles players in the British team alongside Dan Evans and Kyle Edmund, while Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski are the doubles specialists.

The Murray brothers have teamed up together to great success in the past, of course, notably during Britain’s run to the the Davis Cup title in 2015.

“The singles and doubles – that would depend on the situation. Ideally I would want to avoid that,” Murray told BBC Sport.

“Playing five matches in five days, best of three sets, that’s obviously something we do regularly on the tour and I did it in Antwerp and felt OK at the end of that.

“If I had been playing doubles the same day as some of those singles matches in Antwerp, I would have really struggled the following day.

“So we just need to be mindful of that and think a little bit long term in this event.”

Murray is ranked 126th in the world, behind 42nd-ranked Evans and 69th-ranked Edmund, meaning he will play as Britain’s number two and leaving him facing the weaker singles player in the opposing team.

• Live scores, schedule and results
• Alerts: Get tennis news sent to your phone

Brits ‘let it go’ as they drop in Frozen lyrics

The British squad, led by captain Leon Smith, arrived in the Spanish capital on Wednesday to continue their preparations and build camaraderie.

And they showed the spirit they have fostered at a news conference during which the players dropped lines from Disney movie Frozen into their answers.

When asked about the new format, Andy Murray starting by saying detractors “need to let it go”, before Edmund added “fear will be the enemy” of the British team.

Evans continued the fun by saying he “can’t hold it back anymore” and Skupski rounded off the questions by urging the team to “be the players we always have to be”.

Only Jamie Murray did not complete his task, leaving Evans jokingly shouting the Scot’s line – “the cold never bothered you anyway” – as Murray did a television interview.

Edmund in line for new coach

Edmund, 24, is set to announce Argentine Franco Davin, who was with Juan Martin del Potro when he won the 2009 US Open, as his new coach.

The former British number one told BBC Sport they will train in Miami after the Davis Cup, with a view to working together next season.

Edmund has been without a coach since September, when Mark Hilton brought their partnership to a close.

“You never say ‘I’m definitely going long term with him’ because you have got to see how it goes. So we always say you have a bit of a trial, but you always look for it long term,” Edmund said.

“With the experience he brings, and the quality, I’m excited to get going.”

French pair Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert came from behind to win a deciding doubles tie in a 2-1 victory over Japan at the Davis Cup finals.

The Australian Open champions beat Ben McLachlan and Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-5 in a dramatic third set.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Uchiyama 6-2 6-1 in the opening singles match before world number 10 Gael Monfils lost 7-5 6-2 to Yoshihito Nishioka.

Last year’s runners-up France take on Serbia on Thursday.

• Innovation or sacrilege? What you need to know about the new Davis Cup

On a more positive note for Japan, leading singles player Kei Nishikori, who was ranked eighth in the world in October when he underwent surgery on his right elbow, posted a video of himself on social media holding a racquet “for the first time” since picking up the injury.

Elsewhere in Group E, the Netherlands – Great Britain’s opponents on Wednesday – lost 2-1 to Kazakhstan after Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer were beaten 6-4 7-6 (7-2) in the deciding doubles match by Alexander Bublik and Mikhail Kukushkin.

Haase, ranked 163rd in the world, had earlier come from behind to beat Bublik 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-5) in his singles match after Dutch compatriot Botic van de Zandschulp lost 6-2 6-2 to Kukushkin.

And in Group C, Argentina beat Chile 2-0 thanks to victories from Guido Pella and Diego Schwartzman in both singles matches.

Pella, ranked 25th in the world, beat Nicolas Jarry 6-4 6-3 in the opening match of the day on centre court before Schwartzman’s 6-2 6-2 win over Cristian Garin.

“It’s the end of the season but I think I played one of the best matches for sure of the year, maybe in my career,” said Schwartzman. “I think Guido [Pella] helped me a lot to be more confident and I played unreal tennis.”

• Live scores, schedule and results
• Alerts: Get tennis news sent to your phone

The new format

Eighteen nations are split into six groups of three, with the group winners and two best-placed runners-up progressing to the quarter-finals.

The two semi-finals will be played on Saturday, 23 November with the two winners going through to the final on Sunday, 24 November.

Schedule – who plays when?

Group stage: Monday, 18 November – Thursday, 21 November

Quarter-finals: Thursday, 21 November – Friday, 22 November

Semi-finals: Saturday, 23 November

Final: Sunday, 24 November

Croatia began the defence of their Davis Cup title with a 3-0 defeat by Group B rivals Russia as the new-look tournament got under way in Madrid.

Borna Gojo was beaten 6-3 6-3 by Andrey Rublev and Borna Coric went down 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-4 to Karen Khachanov before the Russian pair combined to win the final doubles match.

Russia face Spain on Tuesday.

In Group F, Canada’s Vasek Pospisil and Denis Shapovalov both won as they secured a 2-1 win over Italy.

World number 150 Pospisil beat world number 12 Fabio Fognini 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 and Shapovalov battled past Matteo Berrettini, fresh from his ATP Finals debut, 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-5). The Italian pair then defeated the Canadian duo in the final doubles contest.

And in Group D, Steve Darcis and David Goffin both won their singles matches as Belgium recorded a 2-1 win over Colombia.

The new format

Eighteen nations are split into six groups of three, with the group winners and two best-placed runners-up progressing to the quarter-finals.

The two semi-finals will be played on Saturday, 23 November with the two winners going through to the final on Sunday, 24 November.

Schedule – who plays when?

Group stage: Monday, 18 November – Thursday, 21 November

Quarter-finals: Thursday, 21 November – Friday, 22 November

Semi-finals: Saturday, 23 November

Final: Sunday, 24 November