Spain Sets Aussie SF, After Help From Video Review

Rafael Nadal rallied from his singles defeat to help push Spain past Belgium and into the ATP Cup semi-finals early Saturday morning in Sydney, and video review played a crucial role in the Spaniards’ victory as innovations continue to have an impact at the inaugural tournament.

Nadal and Pablo Carreno Busta came back to beat Belgium’s Sander Gille/Joran Vliegen 6-7(7), 7-5, 10-7 to clinch the tie victory 2-1. Spain will now prepare to face the host country Australia on Saturday night for a place in the inaugural ATP Cup title match.

“Coming from Perth we didn’t have a lot of time to adapt and today the conditions were very heavy with humidity. Playing against David in the singles was a very difficult thing. But we are super happy to be in the semi-finals,” Nadal said. “We’re excited to play a very tough one against Australia. We will give our best like we have done all through our careers.”

The Spaniards erased two break points at 3-4 in the second set, and they earned the first break of the night and grabbed momentum later in the second set on a video review.

With Gille serving at 5-5, 0/40, Vliegen smashed a floater away at net. But the review showed that Vliegen had reached over the net, giving the point to the Spaniards.

Video Review: Spain Breaks Serve After Successful Challenge

It was a welcome change for the Spaniards, who had asked for a video review on a similar call in the first set but the call was not overturned. But after their successful review in the second set, they then held and controlled the Match Tie-break, winning when Vliegen double faulted.

Belgium’s David Goffin forced the deciding doubles with a 6-4, 7-6(3) upset against the World No. 1 Nadal, only the second time the Spaniard has lost in singles while representing Spain (29-2; excluding Olympics).