ATP Cup: Spain's captain piles deep
Davis Cup champion Spain with Rafael Nadal and Roberto Bautista Agut is also a favorite in the ATP Cup. Captain Francisco Roig warns anyway.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Jan 01, 2020, 08:38 am
If you go according to the world rankings of the individual players, then Spain is the clear favorite in the ATP Cup, which starts on Friday in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. Only Furia Roja can count on two current top ten players with Rafael Nadal and Roberto Bautista Agut. And a recent sense of achievement: At the end of November, the Spanish team in Madrid finally won the Davis Cup final tournament.
Back then with Sergi Bruguera as captain, this time Francisco Roig is the team boss. Roig, formerly a professional on the ATP tour, has long been part of Rafael Nadal's coaching team. And the best player in a country is known to have the task of nominating a captain at the ATP Cup (which in the case of the Bulgarians led Grigor Dimitrov to take care of the coaching himself). There is only one change in the Spaniards compared to the Davis Cup - Albert Ramos-Vinolas replaces Marcel Granollers.
Nadal not against Nishikori
And the lot didn't mean bad with Nadal and Co.: Spain meet in Group B with Georgia, Uruguay and Japan. The latter without the still convalescent Kei Nishikori. Team boss Roig still warns. "It's a competition where you can fly out because of a small mistake," said Roig on the ATP website. “But of course Spain is one of the favorites. There are difficult opponents and there is very little room for error. But I am confident that we will play well enough to go to Sydney. ”There the quarter-finals will be played with the six group winners and the two best group runners-up.
Francisco Roig is convinced that the event will be a success overall. “The way they advertised the event was incredible. You just have to look at how ATP and Tennis Australia organize everything. It's a pretty big show. I am sure that it will be very good. "