John Millman avoided what would have been the upset of the ATP Cup on Tuesday night to give unbeaten Australia a 1-0 lead against Greece.
The 30-year-old veteran, playing the role as substitute for the second tie in a row, dug deep against No. 486 Michail Pervolarakis, a 23-year-old who turned pro in 2018 and was 7-8 on the ATP Challenger Tour last season, to win 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(1) in Brisbane.
[VISIT ATP CUP]
But Pervolarakis nearly earned his first ATP Tour win in Millman's hometown. The 6'4” right-hander was swinging freely and had rowdy sections of Greek fans, hungry for their country's first ATP Cup team victory, behind him.
Millman, however, saved a break point in the seventh game of the third set and was steady in the tie-break. Nick Kyrgios will try to improve to 2-0 against World No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas and clinch Australia's third consecutive tie win at the inaugural 24-team tournament, being held in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney.
[FINAL EIGHT]
On Sunday, the Aussies secured their place in the Final Eight, which starts Thursday in Sydney, as Group F champions. And before Tuesday night's tie against Greece, captain Lleyton Hewitt subbed Millman, Australia's No. 3 singles player, in for Alex de Minaur (abdominal strain), therefore bumping Kyrgios to the No. 1 singles place against Tsitsipas.
Kyrgios won their only ATP Head2Head meeting 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(7) last year in the Citi Open semi-finals in Washington, D.C.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/2QRqt3j
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