Kei Nishikori and Yuichi Sugita defeated Artem Smirnov and Sergiy Stakhovsky in straight sets as Japan won its Davis Cup World Group playoff 3-0 against Ukraine on Saturday.
Nishikori and Sugita won 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 to make quick work of Smirnov-Stakhovsky at Utsubo Tennis Center in Osaka, helping Japan keep its place in the World Group for the 2017 season.
A night after Yoshihito Nishioka and Taro Daniel gave Japan a commanding lead with wins in singles, the Nishikori-Sugita duo was in control of the match from start to finish against a Ukrainian pair that never seemed to be in it.