Alexander Zverev and Philipp Kohlschreiber gave Germany a 2-0 lead over Hungary when the revamped Davis Cup qualifiers got under way on Friday, while Australia and Russia are also in command of their ties.
A furious Zverev demolished his racquet as he was dumped out of the Australian Open by Milos Raonic in the fourth round, but he was in much better spirits at the Fraport Arena in Frankfurt.
The world number three eased to a 6-2 6-2 thrashing of the 500-ranked Peter Nagy in the second rubber to put Germany on the brink of reaching the finals in November. Zverev did not face a single break point and won 84 per cent of points on his first serve, with Nagy hitting only four winners.
Kohlschreiber had to work much harder to see off Zsombor Piros, fighting back to win 6-7 (6-8) 7-5 6-4 in a new-look competition which sees ties take place over just two days.
Germany can seal qualification by winning the doubles rubber on Saturday and the same goes for Australia in its match against Bosnia and Herzegovina
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John Millman beat Damir Dzumhur 6-3 6-2 to put Australia in front in Adelaide and Alex de Minaur's 6-3 7-6 (7-0) win over Mirza Basic edged it towards glory.
Russia is in control versus Switzerland following victories for Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov against Henri Laaksonen and Marc-Andrea Huesler respectively.
Italy also has a 2-0 lead over India, while Kazakhstan and Serbia hold the same advantage over Portugal and Uzbekistan respectively.
Slovakia versus Canada, Chile against Austria, Belgium in Brazil, the Czech Republic's tie with the Netherlands and China's clash with Japan all stand a 1-1.
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