Roger Federer pulled out of the inaugural ATP Cup international team competition however plenty of stars will battle it out in Perth, Sydney and Brisbane, Australia in January (3rd to 12th).
The Aussie team will feature a formidable lineup – Nick Kyrgios, Alex de Minaur, John Peers, John Millman and Chris Guccione. Captained by Lleyton Hewitt, Australia will play in Brisbane in Group F against three other nations (which this article will mention later).
Twenty-four teams will compete for the ATP Cup, divided into six groups of four.
Team USA’s roster includes some towering servers – John Isner, Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka, Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek. America will play in Group D in Perth against Norway, Russia and Italy.
Spain have to be considered ATP Cup favorites per most of the sites listed at SportsBettingDime, coming off a Davis Cup title a month ago and having all their big guns lined up for January. With Rafael Nadal and Roberto Bautista-Agut as their singles competitors, the Spanish Armada is expected to cruise through Japan, Georgia, and Uruguay in the group stage.
Two other powerhouse contenders, France and Serbia, are grouped together, making their paths to the quarters much more difficult. Only the group winner is guaranteed to move on.
The busy format also hampers the chances of Australia, which will need to overcome Germany and Canada, as the three team-tennis powers were all placed in Group F with Greece.
Scoop Malinowski · December 16, 2019 at 6:36 pm
Looking forward to this event, it’s like a condensed World Cup into one week. But will miss Hopman Cup.
Andrew Miller · December 16, 2019 at 8:28 pm
TP has yet to go down under. Maybe one day Jon and his daughter or Dan and his son will report from there.
catherine · December 17, 2019 at 4:58 am
I think by that time Oz events will have moved to Antarctica.
Heat is going to be a big problem this summer.
Scoop Malinowski · December 17, 2019 at 8:57 am
Not true Andrew, we have two correspondents down there, the Belcourt sisters Louise and Jayita. They have covered AO and Brisbane several times.