• Nadal and Djokovic start new season with satisfying victories • ‘I managed to weather the storm,’ says Serb

It has been six weeks since Rafael Nadal dragged Spain through eight singles and doubles wins in five days to Davis Cup victory in Madrid. Such a transcendent effort from a 33-year-old after becoming the oldest ever ATP year-end No 1 was deserving of a long rest, but there is no such thing as rest in tennis.

Nadal and Novak Djokovic returned for the new season in the ATP Cup with satisfying victories. Djokovic was resolute in his 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6) win over Kevin Anderson to secure Serbia’s 3-0 win over South Africa and Nadal followed with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Nikoloz Basilashvili to clinch a 3-0 win for Spain over Georgia.

Jamie Murray hits out after GB suffer ATP Cup defeat to Bulgaria … at 2.47am Read more

“Seems like the 2019 season didn’t end yet. Everything was too short,” said Nadal.

However, there was still enough time since his previous match for rust to envelope his game. After Roberto Bautista Agut’s 6-0, 6-0 whitewash over the world No 679, Aleksandre Metreveli, Nadal was cruising with a 6-3, 5-2 lead before losing concentration and twice failing to serve out the match.

Nadal showed his typical composure in crisis, restoring the break immediately at 5-5 to complete Spain’s victory in Perth.

In Brisbane, 2,600 miles away, Djokovic lost his cool with the unruly crowd in the first set tie‑break of his battle with Anderson and then the 6ft 8in South African held set point on his serve in the second set tie-break. Both times, Djokovic produced brilliance to see off a spirited performance from the 2018 Wimbledon finalist, who was impressive in his first match since Wimbledon last year after undergoing knee surgery in September.

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“What a way to start the year,” said Djokovic. “The quality of tennis was quite high. I was very pleased with the way I managed to kind of weather the storm. In these kind of matches a few points really decide the winner.”

The world No 4, Dominic Thiem, fell 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-4 to Borna Coric in Sydney, which marked a 3-0 sweep for Croatia over Austria. On Sunday evening, Great Britain will return to action in Sydney with a must-win tie against Belgium.