ATP Cup 2021: Half the size of the premiere

At the first edition in 2020 there were still 24 teams that took part in the ATP Cup. Under the special circumstances of the corona pandemic, the young team competition will now be held with twelve teams at the beginning of February.

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Match practice before the Australian Open is the top priority: After surviving the quarantine, the professionals should at least have one opportunity to prepare for the first major in 2021 in a competitive match. At the two planned ATP Tour 250 tournaments in Melbourne from January 31 to February 6, 96 starting places will be allocated - divided into two 48-point grids. The ATP Cup, which is to be held from February 1st to 5th, offers at least 24 other professionals the opportunity to practice matches.

In contrast to the regular tournaments, the participants in the ATP Cup can also hope for at least two matches. It can be assumed that there will be four groups with three teams each, followed by a semi-final and the final. The question now is: who will compete in the ATP Cup? Less than a year ago, the top-ranked player in each country tipped the scales for a starting place.

No place for Australia?

If you go by the current ATP world rankings, defending champions Serbia with Novak Djokovic (and Dusan Lajovic?), Spain with Rafael Nadal (and Roberto Bautista Agut), Austria with Dominic Thiem and Dennis Novak (and in doubles w ohl again Jürgen Melzer and Oliver Marach), and the Russians with Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev or Karen Khachanov at the start. The first big question mark is behind Switzerland: Roger Federer is still number five in the ATP charts, which would mean a place for his team at the ATP Cup. In the past few days, however, the 39-year-old had fueled speculation that he might be able to do without the trip to Australia. Which Switzerland is not yet completely out of the equation. Finally, Stan Wawrinka is also classified in the top 20.

From a German point of view, everything seems to be clear: With Alexander Zverev in position one and Jan-Lennard Struff as number two. The double would probably be contested by the two-time French Open champions Kevin Krawietz andAndreas Mies .

By the way: If the ATP world rankings are strictly followed, there would be no place for the Australians in their own country. Their best, Alex de Minaur, only ranks 23rd in the ATP world rankings.

This is what the participants for the ATP Cup 2021 could look like