As the new decade is upon us, so is another tennis season and a different format to get the season started. With the customary Down Under start to the season, typically we have seen the (men’s and women’s) team event with the Hopman Cup, along with ATP 250s at Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney, Auckland as well as in Doha and Pune.
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With an increased focus on team events on the circuit in recent years, the men’s sport has seen the advent of events like the Laver Cup, the revamped Davis Cup last November and now the inaugural version of the ATP Cup, which replaces the Hopman Cup (partially), as well as some of the other ATP 250 event.
The ATP Cup is a 24 team event divided into six groups based on a prior qualification basis (minimum of three ATP ranked players, including two members with singles ATP ranking points being required for a country to be eligible to qualify). The 2020 inaugural version is held across the cities of Brisbane, Perth and Sydney.
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With participation from most of the leading players on the ATP circuit, this promises to be a week and a half of action, skill, drama, competition and more to get the 2020 tennis season off to a pulsating start. The big missing name is that of Roger Federer, who is not participating due to personal reasons giving himself more time to spend with family and beginning his season at the Australian Open on the 20th of January instead.
Below is a closer look at the six groups and likely quarter-finalists.
Group A
With Serbia, South Africa, France and Chile, Group A can produce some interesting contests. While the star attraction in the group remains Novak Djokovic, his combination with Dusan Lajovic and the presence of Gael Monfils and Benoit Paire on the French side creates for the two frontrunners here. Kevin Anderson on South Africa and Cristain Garin and Nicolas Jarry on the Chilean team are not to be discounted either, but Serbia and France remain the favorites here.
Group B
This group, with Spain, Japan, Uruguay and Georgia, provides for a clear favorite in terms of Spain. With world number one Rafael Nadal and veteran Roberto Bautista Agut on the Spanish side, it is difficult to foresee any of the other teams provide a challenger stiff enough to the Spanish duo.
Group C
The group produces for evenly matched contests with the presence of Britain, Belgium, Moldova and Bulgaria. While Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin appear the most seasoned, the due of Dan Evans and Cameron Norrie on the British side provides for a good balance. This remains an open draw and if Steve Darcis can pull his weight together on the Belgian side, this maybe down to a Britain- Belgium clash for the group winner.
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Group D
An interesting mix of players make up the teams in Group D, with Russia, Norway, Italy and the US. While Norway is a little inexperienced with Casper Ruud carrying the mantle, Italy will miss a player like Matteo Berrettini to support the veteran Fabio Fognini. The US with John Isner, Reilly Opelka and Taylor Fritz cannot be undermined, but the clear favorites here are the Russians with Next Gen heroes Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov.
Group E
Although Dominic Thiem is the star player on current form in this group, his Austrian side will miss an able compatriot and will make it difficult given the nature of the competition with Croatia, Argentina and Poland, especially the first two nations. While both Borna Coric and Marin Cilic have had a poor 2019, on paper Croatia still looks the favorite to clinch the group, with the Argentine combination of Diego Schwartzman and Guido Pella (after a career best year in 2019) looking like able challengers.
Group F
The presence of Germany, Greece, Canada and Australia in Group F makes it the group to watch out for, i.e the Group of Death. While Greece has star sensation Stefanos Tsitispas, the absence of an equally able partner will leave them a little lacking in this group. Australia with Nick Kyrgios and Alex de Minaur provide a very strong challenge to others here, but a lot depends on the version of Nick Kyrgios that we will see.
With Alexander Zverev and Jan-Lennard Struff on the German side and Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime on the Canadian side, it will be down to these two teams most likely, for clinching the group with the other an able runner-up for the final eight.
While it is anyone’s tournament going into the final weekend, what is crucial in a tournament of this nature is the mix of players, a factor that scores above the presence of a superstar. While Serbia, Greece and Austria can expect nothing less from Djokovic, Thiem and Tsitsipas, it is the teams such as Spain, Russia, Canada, Croatia and Germany that are favored, given the good mix and balance of players.
We believe that the four nations mentioned above, i.e, Spain, Russia, Canada and Germany are strong favorites going into the ATP Cup. While Canada, Russia and Germany rely heavily on the ‘Next Gen’, where they may fall short is the lack of experience and not having a seasoned duo at the start of another season in conditions that maybe a little different.
ATP Cup 2020 Prediction
With Nadal and Agut, that is exactly where Spain scores over the others, and TWL believes Spain will be marginally favored over all to clinch the inaugural edition of the ATP Cup, just like they did the Davis Cup in November.
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