Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury were positioned to clinch Great Britain’s first tie of the ATP Cup against Bulgaria, but they let slip two match points. On Sunday evening, they missed out on two match points again. But this time, the third chance was the charm.

Murray and Salisbury defeated Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 6-3, 7-6(7) in one hour and 32 minutes to seal Great Britain’s 2-1 win against Belgium.

Great Britain appeared in trouble in the tie when World No. 157 and Belgian captain Steve Darcis upset Cameron Norrie in the first singles match of the night. But a splendid effort from Daniel Evans and a bounce-back effort from Murray and Salisbury spurred them to victory.

“Evo played an amazing match today. Me, personally, I don’t know how Joe felt, but I was, like, ‘I cannot let that slide.’ We had another chance at it to win a tie, and we can’t let it go again,” Murray said. “We’ve got to win that match and make his performance count for something.”

Darcis beat World No. 53 Norrie 6-2, 6-4 to give Belgium the advantage. The veteran needed more than three hours to get through his first ATP Cup match on Friday. But he needed only one hour and 12 minutes to beat Norrie.

Darcis has announced his intention to retire after the 2020 Australian Open, but he was looking in fine form. He earned his best win by FedEx ATP Ranking since triumphing against then-World No. 50 Adrian Mannarino at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Lisbon last May.

For every question Norrie posed in the match, Darcis had an answer. The Belgian put his backhand slice to great use, keeping the lefty from being too aggressive, and waiting for the perfect time to take advantage of an opening. That also kept Norrie, who beat Bulgaria’s Dimitar Kuzmanov on Friday, from finding a rhythm from the baseline. 

Evans looked strong in the early going against former World No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov on Friday, before the Bulgarian turned it on to win in three sets. The Brit wouldn’t let the same thing happen again on Sunday.

Evans defeated World No. 11 David Goffin 6-4, 6-4 to level the tie at 1-1. It is Evans’ first Top 20 win since eliminating then-World No. 16 Nikoloz Basilashvili at Wimbledon last year, and it sets up a deciding doubles match in Ken Rosewall Arena. 

“I felt the level was good out there, I’d say one of the highest levels I’ve played. It felt that way, and obviously it made it pretty sweet to have everyone there behind.
And in this new format, I think it’s a pretty good way to play having the seats behind in the corners,” Evans said. “It’s pretty cool. It definitely helped to get me through the match.”

The 29-year-old had never played Goffin before, and his unorthodox game style proved plenty vexing for the Belgian. Evans, who only won 57 per cent of his service points, utilised his dagger-like backhand slice much like Steve Darcis did for Belgium earlier in the evening to play the match at his pace. Only when he felt he was in an advantageous position did the Brit rip a forehand to try to take it to Goffin.

Evans successfully broke on all five of his opportunities to beat the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals runner-up after one hour and 48 minutes, leaping a few times in the air to celebrate after converting his fifth match point.

Murray and Salisbury then finished it off against an accomplished duo in Gille/Vliegen, who won three ATP Tour titles in 2019. Murray and Salisbury have both qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals separately, and they showed their level by not facing a break point against the Belgians.

The second phase of round robin matches comes to a close at the ATP Cup on Monday, with 12 countries aiming to boost their chances of reaching the Final Eight in Sydney.

Here are the 10 things that matter most ahead of Day 4 at the ATP Cup.

1) Final Eight Qualification: Serbia and France, who meet each other in the evening session at Pat Rafter Arena, can secure their spots at the Final Eight on Day 4. Team Serbia qualifies as Group winner if it defeats France and South Africa defeats Chile. Team France qualifies as Group Winner if it defeats Serbia and Chile defeats South Africa.

2) Building On Success: Alongside Serbia and France, Spain, Croatia, Japan and Argentina will all be hoping to boost their chances of reaching the Final Eight in Sydney by moving to 2-0 in their groups.

3) Getting to 1-1: For the six teams that made losing starts to their ATP Cup campaigns on Day 2, their second ties provide an opportunity to move up the group tables and increase their chances of booking a Final Eight position.

4) Using Technology: With the introduction of Team Zones and Video Review at the ATP Cup, the 12 nations competing on Monday will have a unique opportunity to digest tactical information and overturn incorrect decisions. Guido Pella took advantage of the tablet device in Team Argentina’s Team Zone to look back at previous errors and create a game plan to beat Kamil Majchrzak on Day 3. In the same tie, Team Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz successfully used Video Review.

5) South Africa v Chile: Both countries will be aiming to win their first tie at the ATP Cup in Brisbane. Lloyd Harris and Nicolas Jarry will open the tie, before Kevin Anderson and Cristian Garin contest the No. 1 singles match. Both matches will be maiden ATP Head2Head encounters.

6) Serbia v France: Depending on the result of South Africa and Chile’s tie, Serbia or France will enter Pat Rafter Arena knowing a win will confirm top spot in Group A. Benoit Paire and Dusan Lajovic open the tie, which is headlined by Novak Djokovic and Gael Monfils’ 16th ATP Head2Head clash. Despite many close encounters, Djokovic enters the crucial meeting with an unbeaten 15-0 record against the Frenchman.

7) Japan v Georgia: Following mixed fortunes on Day 2, Japan and Georgia will meet in the first tie at RAC Arena. After dropping just one game in his ATP Cup opener, Yoshihito Nishioka will meet Nikoloz Basilashvili in the No. 1 singles contest.

8) Spain v Uruguay: After a 3-0 win against Georgia, Spain will face Uruguay in the night session. World No. 1 Rafael Nadal enters his match against Pablo Cuevas with a 4-1 ATP Head2Head record. Roberto Bautista Agut faces Martin Cuevas in the first match of the tie.

9) Croatia v Poland: Croatia will attempt to keep the momentum going against Poland, following its 3-0 victory over Austria on Day 2. Marin Cilic opens against Kamil Majchrzak, before Borna Coric faces Hurkacz. Coric, who stunned World No. 4 Dominic Thiem in his 2020 opener, owns a 1-0 ATP Head2Head record against Hurkacz.

10) Austria v Argentina: Austria will attempt to bounce back from an opening loss to Croatia against Day 2 winners Argentina. Thiem will face good friend Diego Schwartzman for the eighth time in their ATP Head2Head rivalry (Thiem leads 5-2). Following wins for Thiem in their opening three contests, three of the past four meetings between the pair have required a deciding set.

Australians have two more reasons to be proud of Queensland’s John Millman. Firstly, the 30-year-old subbed in for an injured Nick Kyrgios (back) on Sunday morning to give the home team a 1-0 lead against Canada at the ATP Cup in Brisbane.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, depending on which industry writes your cheque, the Aussie gave a full-throated endorsement, both on and off the court, for what Queensland’s banana industry can do for your tennis game.

In muggy conditions inside Pat Rafter Arena, Millman ran down everything against Felix Auger-Aliassime, eliciting 42 unforced errors compared to 23 winners from the #NextGenATP star. Millman’s training in his hometown of Brisbane and his nutrition, which always includes bananas, paid off for the 30-year-old.

“You’re losing a lot of fluids. So being in Queensland, I love my bananas, obviously,” Millman said.

Australia has 13,000 hectares of banana production, according to the Australian Banana Growers’ Council, and 94 per cent of it is located in the northeastern state of Queensland.

Millman’s banana-eating is so prolific, he’s received playful criticism on his technique. A video circulated late last year of Millman chowing down on the fruit. But he’s not stopping.

“I’m a nibbler,” Millman said. “I don’t like massive chunks because I feel like I have to chew so much, so yeah, I nibble a banana.

“There’s a video somewhere. There’s someone who was poking fun at me, that’s the Aussie way, isn’t it, a good bit of banter. If that’s one of my worst traits, then I can live with that.”

His banana eating aside, Millman has a reputation for being one of the fittest men on the ATP Tour. He memorably outlasted Roger Federer under similar conditions to make the 2018 US Open quarter-finals.

“It’s just important to go through your routines and know what works for you. I haven’t had too many problems in the past with my nutrition and how my body reacts in these conditions. You’re always going to feel it sometimes. But what you do is you control what you can control and that’s what I try to do,” Millman said on Sunday.

“Hopefully, you’ve done the hard work, and you look after the nutrition side, and you do the hard work off the court, and you do your physical work, and hopefully it combines for a successful season in summer, and in some of the trickiest conditions that we play throughout the year.”

Stefano Travaglia gave Team Italy the advantage in its bid to secure a first Group D tie win on a hot Sunday in Perth at the inaugural ATP Cup.

World No. 84 Travaglia lost just two of his first-service points (15/17) against Viktor Durasovic of Team Norway in a 6-1, 6-1 victory over 57 minutes at the RAC Arena, where temperatures hit 34°C (93°F).

Fabio Fognini, whose wife, former WTA pro Flavia Pennetta, gave birth to their second child — a daughter named Farah — on 23 December, will next look to clinch the tie for Team Italy with a win over Casper Ruud, who saved two match points to overcome John Isner of Team United States on Friday. Fognini lost to World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev in three sets.

The 24-team event is being played in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney from 3-12 January, with the Final Eight beginning on Thursday in Sydney.

“Today was different conditions than two days ago against Khachanov,” said Travaglia. “The court was faster, the balls faster and the sun was so hot… I started very well, having prepared yesterday with my captain and my coach in the strategy room. I was solid from the first point. I just tried to play my tennis, with my feet inside the court and I tried to go to the net.”

Travaglia, who lost to Team Russia’s Karen Khachanov in the first tie, dominated from the start as nerves once again affected Durasovic, who committed 16 unforced errors in the 29-minute opener. Travaglia completed the set with his fifth winner, a crosscourt forehand volley winner.

Forehand errors continued to stack up for Durasovic, two days on from his loss to Taylor Fritz of Team United States. Travaglia won seven straight games form 2-1 in the first set to 3-0 in the second set.

Team Norway defeated Team United States 2-1 in Group D on Friday, while Team Italy lost 0-3 to Team Russia

Bulgaria needed until 2:46am Saturday morning to secure their first tie victory of the ATP Cup, surprising Great Britain in a thriller. But there was no such drama on Sunday, with the team cruising past Moldova.

Grigor Dimitrov beat Radu Albot 6-2, 6-3 in 83 minutes to seal his country’s victory, which ultimately was by a 2-1 margin.

“I just had to build up the team a little bit for today, and after that it was just all about the game,” Dimitrov said. “I think Dimitar did a great job this morning. Obviously it was a good match on his end. And then I had to make sure I stayed strong throughout the whole match today. That was good.”

The former World No. 3, who won the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals, showed no fatigue after playing a total of six sets in singles and doubles against Great Britain, on top of serving in his role as Bulgarian captain. Dimitrov broke the Moldovan four times, winning 86 per cent of his first-serve points to put the tie out of reach.

In the second set, Albot, the 2019 Delray Beach titlist, fought back from a break down to put pressure on Dimitrov. But the World No. 20 had the match on his racquet and did not panic, defeating Albot in their first ATP Head2Head meeting.

“Coming into this thing, I knew that if we come together, we have a great opportunity. I know I have to not only believe in myself now, but I need to believe in the players that are with me,” Dimitrov said. “My only goal was, and I’m honest on that, was just to put them together, to make sure we practise together, to make sure they learn something from me, to make sure they are surrounded by the top players. That was my main goal.”

Dimitrov’s countryman, Dimitar Kuzmanov, fell just short of a big win against Great Britain, losing to Cameron Norrie in three sets. But the World No. 423 would not be denied on Sunday, defeating Alexander Cozbinov 6-1, 7-5 to give his country the early lead.

“I’m the happiest person right now,” Kuzmanov said, cracking a smile. “As I was giving the interview on the court… I totally forgot that this is also my first ATP match win.
I didn’t think about it at all. I was really, really focussed only about my game, just stick with it, the plan, the game plan we had. I think it was working pretty well.”

The 26-year-old arrived in Sydney without an ATP Tour win in his career. But Kuzmanov broke serve five times against World No. 818 Cozbinov to triumph after one hour and 48 minutes.

“Really happy that I dealt with the pressure, because it’s not easy. It’s not easy to always play the first match, as a No. 2 player, and especially I’m still getting used to everything here and that level,” Kuzmanov said. “I’m learning and I’m feeling better and better every day here and on court. At the end, the most important thing is that I managed to pull this one [out].”

The rallies were tightly contested throughout, with Cozbinov consistently trying to play aggressively as Kuzmanov fended off his opponent’s attacks. The Bulgarian was patient, forcing Cozbinov to go for more and more from neutral positions in the court, leading to some errors after long points. The Bulgarian also tried to use his backhand slice to change the rhythm of rallies.

But Cozbinov was playing for his country, and like he did against Belgium’s Steve Darcis on Friday, the Moldovan battled hard until the end. The 24-year-old surged from 0-4 down in the second set, getting back on serve at 5-5, even after Kuzmanov earned a 40/0 advantage as he served for the match for the first time at 5-4.

Kuzmanov remained calm, though, breaking back in the next game to earn the chance to serve for the match again. Even after falling short in a 40-shot rally on his fourth match point, Kuzmanov sealed his victory with a forehand down the line that Cozbinov couldn’t handle. The Bulgarian fell to the court on his stomach in celebration, getting up and kissing the Bulgarian flag on his shirt.

Both country’s No. 1 singles players competed in the doubles match, with Albot and Cozbinov beating Dimitrov and Alexandar Lazarov 6-4, 7-6(4). That was Moldova’s first match win of the ATP Cup.

Good luck flushing John Millman’s debut ATP Cup win from his memory anytime soon.

The Aussie veteran came to his hometown of Brisbane as his country’s No. 3 singles player and was ready to play a supporting role all week at the inaugural 24-team tournament being played in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney.

But Nick Kyrgios (back pain) pulled out just before his Sunday morning singles match against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime. Millman, however, more than filled in, beating the 20-year-old #NextGenATP star 6-4, 6-2 to put Australia one match away from doing their part to qualify for the Final Eight in Sydney.

Millman fell behind 1-3, but the veteran settled into his home Pat Rafter Arena, testing Auger-Aliassime with long rallies in steamy conditions. The Canadian finished with 42 unforced errors to 23 winners, and Millman won 11 of the final 14 games.

Australia qualifies for the Final Eight as the Group F winner if Australia defeats Canada and Germany defeats Greece on Sunday evening.

The first round of ATP Cup ties are complete, with each of the 24 countries up and running in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney. With the three highest-ranked players at the ATP Cup making their first appearances, a successful video review challenge and the use of Team Zone technology, Day 2 lived up to all expectations.

Here are 10 of the biggest takeaways from Day 2:

1) Night Session Stars: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem all made their ATP Cup debuts on Saturday night. Nadal and Djokovic were able to record straight-sets wins for their sides, but Thiem was beaten in three sets by Team Croatia’s Borna Coric.

2) Spain Sweeps Georgia: After Roberto Bautista Agut cruised past Aleksandre Metreveli 6-0, 6-0, World No. 1 Nadal took made his way onto court at RAC Arena for his opening match of the 2020 ATP Tour season against Nikoloz Basilashvili. After struggling to serve the match out, the World No. 1 eventually confirmed the tie victory for Spain with a hard-fought 6-3, 7-5.

3) Serbia’s Solid Start: Djokovic was forced to find his best level at Pat Rafter Arena as he recorded his ninth win in 11 ATP Head2Head encounters against Team South Africa’s Kevin Anderson. The Serbian overcame the 33-year-old 7-6(5), 7-6(6) to earn Team Serbia the victory, adding to Dusan Lajovic’s 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 triumph against Lloyd Harris.

4) Croatia Downs Austria: After a strong 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 comeback for Marin Cilic against Dennis Novak, Coric stunned World No. 4 Thiem to confirm a victory for Team Croatia against Team Austria. The two-time ATP Tour titlist played with aggression in front of a loud crowd at Ken Rosewall Arena to snap a six-match losing streak, battling past the Nitto ATP Finals runner-up for his first Top 10 victory since October 2018.

5) First Win For France: Benoit Paire and Gael Monfils began Team France’s ATP Cup title bid with singles victories against Team Chile. Paire recovered from a set down to battle past Nicolas Jarry, before Monfils confirmed victory for his nation with straight-sets success against Cristian Garin. Garin and Jarry combined to beat Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in doubles.

6) Monfils Magic: It is fair to say Monfils is no stranger to magical moments on a tennis court. The Frenchman produced another during his win against Garin, showcasing his incredible athleticism to turn the tables on his opponent at Pat Rafter Arena.

7) Argentina Up And Running: Following Guido Pella and Hubert Hurkacz’s three-set wins, doubles took the spotlight on Ken Rosewall Arena with the score tied at 1-1 between Team Argentina and Team Poland. Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni, who own a collective 13 tour-level doubles titles, claimed the win for their country with a 6-2, 6-4 victory against Hurkacz and Lukasz Kubot.

8) Video Review Success: After David Goffin proved unsuccessful with the first ATP Cup video review on Day 1, Hurkacz became the first man to successfully challenge a call with the innovative technology. The 22-year-old challenged the umpire’s decision to replay a point following a late call from a line judge. On review, his opponent Diego Schwartzman was not affected by the call which came after he missed his next shot and the point was awarded to Hurkacz.

9) Tablet Tactician: Pella was one of many ATP Cup stars to take advantage of the available technology in the Team Zone during Day 2. The Argentine watched specific points from earlier in his match on the Team Zone’s tablet device to learn from his mistakes, recovering from a second-set loss to beat Kamil Majchrzak 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.

10) Japan Dominates: Team Japan’s Go Soeda and Yoshihito Nishioka dropped a combined five games en route to establishing an unassailable 2-0 advantage against Team Uruguay. Soeda opened the show in Perth with a 6-1, 6-3 win against Martin Cuevas, while Nishioka raced past Pablo Cuevas 6-0, 6-1. Toshihide Matsui and Ben McLachlan completed the sweep of straight-sets triumphs, beating Ariel Behar and Pablo Cuevas 7-6(5), 6-4.

Stan Wawrinka will face Jeremy Chardy or a qualifier in his opening match of the 2020 ATP Tour season, as he attempts to lift his first Qatar ExxonMobil Open trophy.

The 34-year-old, who is the top seed at the 2019 ATP 250 Tournament of the Year, owns a 6-5 record in Doha. Wawrinka’s best result at the tournament came in 2008, when he reached the championship match (l. to Murray).

If Chardy wins his opening match, the Frenchman will face Wawrinka for the seventh time at tour-level. Wawrinka owns an undefeated 6-0 ATP Head2Head record against the World No. 51, which includes a four-set victory in their most recent meeting at last year’s US Open.

Wawrinka shares the top quarter of the draw with Adrian Mannarino, who opens his campaign against Newport and Chengdu runner-up Alexander Bublik. Mannarino fell to Dusan Lajovic in the opening round on his tournament debut last year.

In the second quarter, fourth seed Milos Raonic will face Tennys Sandgren or a qualifier in the second round, while sixth seed Filip Krajinovic will meet Kyle Edmund in his season opener. Fernando Verdasco and Pablo Andujar also feature in an all-Spanish first-round encounter.

The bottom half of the draw is headlined by 2018 finalist Andrey Rublev (l. to Monfils). The 22-year-old Russian returns for the third straight year, having won five of seven matches in his previous two tournament appearances. Rublev, who is joined in the bottom quarter by fifth seed Laslo Djere, awaits the winner of wild card Malek Jaziri and Mikhail Kukushkin’s first-round clash.

Third seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and eighth seed Frances Tiafoe own the two seeded positions in the third quarter of the draw. Tsonga, the 2012 champion (d. Monfils), will begin his quest for a second trophy in Qatar against Miomir Kecmanovic or Jordan Thompson. Tsonga has reached the quarter-finals or better in each of his three previous visits to Doha, compiling a 9-2 tournament record.

Pavic/Soares Lead Doubles Field
Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares will face wild cards Marton Fucsovics and Verdasco in their first match of the season.

The top seeds, who joined forces at the Fever-Tree Championships in June last year, will be aiming to lift their second title as a team after reaching two championship matches in 2019. Pavic and Soares picked up their maiden team trophy at the Rolex Shanghai Masters (d. Kubot/Melo) before a runner-up finish at the Intrum Stockholm Open (l. to Kontinen/Roger-Vasselin).

Former champions Chardy and Fabrice Martin will also be bidding to claim a second crown in Doha. The 2017 titlists share the top half of the draw with Pavic and Soares and will open their campaign against Divij Sharan and Artem Sitak.

Second seeds Henri Kontinen and Franko Skugor will meet wild cards Malek Jaziri and Rashed Nawaf in their first-round match. The Finnish-Croatian tandem are joined in the bottom half of the draw by Rohan Bopanna and Wesley Koolhof.

Guido Pella had a secret weapon during his win on Saturday at the ATP Cup, but it’s not what you’d expect.

The Argentine made use of one of the 24-team competition’s innovations, going through a tablet in the Team Zone to get updated statistics and look back at previous points during changeovers, helping him adjust tactics accordingly to defeat Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.

“I was looking for specific points, because I think in a few points of the match I did a bad choice for a hit, so I was looking for that particular point,” Pella said. “I think it was a backhand cross when he broke my serve in the second set, and I think that was down the line. It’s very good to have the tablet there, because you can look [at] anything.”

The tablet is one of many innovations at the ATP Cup, with the Team Zone being another. So not only did Pella have access to all that information, but captain Gaston Gaudio and Pella’s personal coach, Jose Acasuso, were there to talk through it all with him.

“In every tournament of the year, we don’t have that kind of stuff on court. So it’s very nice to have the technology by your side, because I think the technology is very good for the sport, because you can look [at] anything,” Pella said. “I was looking for specific points and maybe some things that he was doing very good. I think that helped me a lot.”

Before competing on Saturday evening, Croatian No. 1 Borna Coric did not plan on going out of his way to use the tablet, especially if he was leading.

“For sure I’m going to use it if things are not going well or if I don’t feel well, but if I start playing good and if I see that I’m doing pretty good, I don’t think I’m going to use it too much,” Coric said. “I’m going to say to the coach as well that I expect from him to tell me [the] most important things. But I’m not going to use it too much personally.”

But things changed during his battle with World No. 4 Dominic Thiem. Former World No. 3 Marin Cilic, who won the first match of the tie for Croatia, took a keen interest in the tablet after Coric’s second set, which he dropped 2-6.

“He likes to do it, I think. I’m not a huge fan of that, but he likes it. And he told me [a] couple things,” Coric said. “I did use it, of course. When Marin says do something, obviously it affects [you], it’s there. So I did use it.”

Coric, who did not earn a Top 10 win in 2019, ended up bouncing back to take the decider and upset Thiem.

Bulgaria’s Dimitar Kuzmanov lost his match on Friday against Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie, but it wasn’t because he didn’t have access to enough information on the court. Despite his loss, the World No. 423 enjoyed being able to reference the tablet throughout the match, and according to him, so did those in his Team Zone.

“I saw that they were looking at the tablet since the beginning,” Kuzmanov said. “So they were showing me the stats, especially after the first set. Not showing me, but telling me. Just giving me information how things are going, like percentages and so on.

“The percentage of the returned serves, first and second. First-serve percentage, as well. That’s why I was serving much better in the second, because I was more concentrated on that first serve,” Kuzmanov said. “I couldn’t use the new system regarding the foot fault and the double bounce, but I think any innovation is good for the sport and for the fans, as well, as we see everything happening around here. And we are excited as well about it.”