ATP Cup: Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in top form again
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are in top form early in the season. At the ATP Cup, the two superstars have so far been able to immediately build on their performance from the previous year.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Jan 06, 2020, 10:46 pm
Almost all top players had their initial difficulties at the ATP Cup. Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas even lost their opening games at the latest event on the tour, and Daniil Medvedev also got an absolute false start against Fabio Fognini, at least in the first set.
But there are two exceptions: Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic . Both the Spaniards and the Serbs have so far remained in their singles without losing a set and once again substantiated why they have been at the top of the ATP world rankings for years. Sure, Nikoloz Basilahsvili and Pablo Cuevas are not the benchmark for Nadal, but the world number one with partly fabulous tennis proved that you have to take him into account at the first Grand Slam tournament of the year in Melbourne.
This also applies to Djokovic, who showed brilliant approaches again against Kevin Anderson and Gael Monfils and also remained without set loss. The 16-time Grand Slam winner also led his country to the quarter-finals with a double victory over Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin alongside Viktor Troicki.
No changing of the guard in sight
One thing becomes clear early in the season: It will probably take an enormous amount of effort for the much-cited changing of the guard , Nadal and Djokovic will not vacate their place in the sun without a fight - and then there is also Roger Federer, who works for the really big ones Tournaments can always have a weighty say.
The Big Three emphasize again and again that they, too, will not stay at the top forever and that the younger generation is getting closer and closer. Only: At the big tournaments, you could not even recognize this in the beginning - and it seems that at least in the early phase of the current year, nothing has changed.