ATP Cup: Russia and Spain already after the individual - even without Nadal
The Russian and Spanish teams have already cleared the victory at the ATP Cup after the singles - although superstar Rafael Nadal had withdrawn at short notice.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Feb 02, 2021, 12:15 pm
Andrey Rublev put up 6: 1, 6: 2 against Guido Pella, world number 4 Daniil Medvedev also did well in the game against top 10 colleague Diego Schwartzman at 7: 5, 6: 3 - 2: 0 It was said after the singles for Russia against Argentina in Group D.
"I think the key against Diego is that I serve better. Today I wasn't happy with my serve, it can be better. He broke me three times, but I always had opportunities on his serve, so it's always a bit difficult for him, especially on hard courts, "said Medvedev afterwards.
The Spanish team had to cope with the failure of top man Rafael Nadal against Australia - Rafa had his back and decided to take a break first. Will he intervene again during the week? Seems open.
Spain wins even without Nadal
Even without Nadal, however, they are well positioned in Spain: Pablo Carreno Busta, who was in individual action for a short time, celebrated a 6: 2, 6: 4 victory over John Millman and only lost three points on the first serve.
Afterwards, the new top man Roberto Bautista Agut made the preliminary decision in Group B clear in a 4: 6, 6: 4, 6: 4 against Alex de Minaur. De Minaur got off to a better start with a 5: 1 lead, but Bautista got both breaks back, he was almost 5: 5. But only: almost. After seven service losses in sentence 1 there were only two breaks, both for the RBA, each for 2: 1 in rounds two and three.
Italy and Serbia already victorious - Thiem with defeat
In the day session, Italy and Serbia had prevailed before - here the double had to decide. Biggest surprise: Dominic Thiem's outright defeat against Matteo Berrettini .
The ATP Cup continues on Wednesday night: Germany meets Canada and Italy meets France. In the night session Greece will play against Australia and Russia against Japan.
ATP Cup 2021: All information, schedule, TV, players, prize money