The wait is almost over.
The 2020 ATP Tour season is ready to begin as 24 countries prepare to compete across three Australian cities for the right to be crowned the inaugural champions of the ATP Cup.
A new era of tennis will open the decade in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney, with a total of 43 ties from 3-12 January. Each city will host two groups of four countries during the round-robin group stage.
Here are the 10 things that matter most ahead of Day 1 at the ATP Cup.
1) Format: Each tie will feature two singles and one doubles match. Singles matches will begin each tie with No. 2 players starting action, followed by the No. 1 match and the doubles. The country winning two encounters wins the tie.
2) Qualification: The 24 countries are competing in six round-robin groups as they bid to reach the Final Eight. Only the six winners of each group and the two best second-placed finishers across the groups will advance out of round-robin play.
3) Schedule: The round-robin stage will be contested across the opening six days of the tournament, with the final four days of action in Sydney deciding the champion.
4) Day 1 Highlights: The opening day will feature plenty of blockbuster matches. In Group F, Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas will meet Denis Shapovalov of Canada in Brisbane's day session, before Germany’s Alexander Zverev faces home favourite Alex de Minaur of Australia in the night session. In Group D, World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev of Russia will battle Italy’s Fabio Fognini in Perth's night session.
5) Greece v Canada: In the opening tie at Pat Rafter Arena, World No. 6 Tsitsipas will attempt to record his second win in four FedEx ATP Head2Head encounters against Shapovalov. Both men ended their 2019 ATP Tour campaigns in top form, with Tsitsipas capturing the biggest title of his career at the Nitto ATP Finals in London (d. Thiem) and Shapovalov advancing to his maiden ATP Masters 1000 final at the Rolex Paris Masters (l. to Djokovic).
6) Germany v Australia: Zverev enters with a 4-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against De Minaur. They will meet in the second match of the tie, following Jan-Lennard Struff taking on Nick Kyrgios. Germany has 2019 Roland Garros champions Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies available for doubles action, while Australia has John Peers and Chris Guccione, who own a combined 25 tour-level doubles titles. Peers has enjoyed success in Australia by winning the 2017 Australian Open doubles title with Henri Kontinen of Finland.
7) USA v Norway: In the opening tie at RAC Arena in Perth, American John Isner and Norwegian Casper Ruud will meet for the second time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. In the first round last year at Wimbledon, Isner defeated Ruud in straight sets.
8) Russia v Italy: World No. 5 Medvedev and Fognini square off for the fourth consecutive year. Medvedev leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 2-1, claiming back-to-back victories after a loss to the Italian in 2017. One of them will be attempting to win the tie, following the opening match between Karen Khachanov and Stefano Travaglia.
9) Belgium v Moldova: The first tie at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney will feature Belgian David Goffin and Moldovan Radu Albot. Each of their previous three FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings have gone to a final set, with Goffin battling past the Moldovan on each occasion.
10) Bulgaria v Great Britain: Following the opening singles match, Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and Brit Daniel Evans will contest their fourth FedEx ATP Head2Head match. Dimitrov, who leads their series 2-1, finished 2019 with semi-final runs at the US Open and Paris.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/2ubvFaB
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