Garin puts Chile in charge in Bratislava

Chile's No. 1 Cristian Garin defeated Slovakia's Alex Molcan 6-2 6-4 to put the visitors 1-0 up in their Davis Cup by Rakuten World Group I tie in Bratislava.

Garin, ranked No. 17 in the world, showed why he is ranked 100 places higher than his opponent in a match that lasted one hour and 13 minutes.

The Chilean raced out to a 5-1 lead in the first set and when he broke in the opening game of the second set, he took control of the match thanks to being solid on his own serve.

Chile are looking to advance to the Davis Cup Qualifiers in 2022 and will advance to that stage of the competition if they win in Bratislava this weekend.

If Slovakia can fight back, they would need results to go their way if they are to gain direct entry to the Qualifiers. Otherwise they might need to contest a World Group I Knock-out in November.

More to follow...