Rafael Nadal could face Nick Kyrgios after injury return in Australian Open warm-up event

RAFAEL NADAL is set to make his return to the court at this week's Melbourne Summer Set event.

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Schwartzman Inspired By Argentina's Golden Generation

Diego Schwartzman is making his third ATP Cup appearance this week in Sydney, leading Team Argentina in Group D at the 16-team event.

The 29-year-old, who triumphed against Nikoloz Basilashvili in his first match at the tournament this week, spoke to ATPTour.com about what places he loves in Argentina, who inspired him and much more.

If you could take one shot from any member of your team and add it to your game what would it be?
Good question, I think not a shot, but Delbonis’ size. Some extra centimetres for me should be okay.

Who on the team would most likely be late for practice or a team dinner?
Maybe me. I’m a relaxed guy, so, I mean, sometimes I go to the places five or 10 minutes late. You know, I’m doing something else or taking a coffee, or talking with someone and It’s difficult to arrive on time.

Can you describe the personality of the other players in the team?
Everyone is very similar, we know each other since we are young. [Andres] Molteni is the funniest guy in the team, he’s always joking, always smiling. Then Machi [Maximo Gonzalez], I think he has the experience, you know? He is the old guy in the team.

Federico Coria was the fifth player, but he’s not here, but he is obviously very funny, same age as me. I think he’s one of my best friends on tour, and then Delbonis, same thing, we know each other since we are 10 years old so we have a very good relationship.

We share a lot, and I think everyone is funny and everyone is always smiling and we have a very good relationship, so we have a very good team.

Which Argentine players inspired you to play tennis when you were young?
Well, everyone. When I was young we had Nalbandian, Coria, Gaudio, Chela, Zabaleta, Monaco; everyone was playing. We had five to 10 guys at the same time. Not many countries can say that, perhaps Spain or France.

Can you describe the first tennis club that you played tennis at?
I started playing as a child for 30 minutes or one hour at Club Nautico Hacoaj in Buenos Aires. It’s one of the biggest clubs in South America with 30 courts.

Now they put the name of the centre court as Diego Schwartzman, so it was a very nice moment a few weeks ago. And I started playing there. Then I moved to an academy in the capital and a few years after I started my professional career.

Tell me three things you love about your country?
Everything! The social… sharing, how we share everything. The asado…: the steak barbeque. And…mate, the drink.

Where would you recommend a tourist visit?
Well, I love my country. We are a very big country and you have different styles. If you like the south – the mountains, the lakes, the snow – you have to go to Patagonia. I mean, Patagonia it’s one of the famous places in the world. We are very far but, if you have time you have to come. I have never seen something like this in the world. And also one big part in Chile. We share the Patagonia because los Andes are there, and it’s unbelievable.

And then in the North you have the desert. Jujuy and Salta, are unbelievable places. And then in the middle is Buenos Aires, the capital, and I live there so I love it.

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The Power Of The ATP Cup Team Zone: Fritz Fires Away

Taylor Fritz earned a big season-opening win on Sunday against Felix Auger-Aliassime at the ATP Cup. One of the perks of being at this event is he had his coach — and Team United States captain — Michael Russell by his side through the roller-coaster of his comeback against the Canadian.

Throughout the match, the broadcast feed showed Fritz and Russell chatting during changeovers about match strategy, tactics and more in their country’s Team Zone. Not a changeover went by that Fritz was not throwing an idea or question at the former World No. 60.

“It was great. It was a lot of fun. It’s great having the whole team there in the zone so we could all talk to each other and being able to communicate with the player and then having stats available if you need it,” Russell said. “It’s a unique experience, but I’ve enjoyed it. I think it’s great. I’d love to see it in more events, where there is more on-court coaching or on-court involvement between the player and coach or team member.”

This wasn’t the first time Fritz has shown his analytical side. At the 2018 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals, he often queried his coach via headset.

“Taylor is very communicative, very analytical, which is a good thing and then sometimes it could be a little different, because he is so communicative,” Russell said. “He says whatever is on his mind, whatever he’s thinking and he always questions everything that I suggest, which can be good because if he doesn’t agree with it, or if it’s something that he wants to detail further, then we have an open discussion about it.

“But I appreciate that. I’d rather have more communication than less communication.”

According to Fritz, these things happen whether he has access to his coach or not.

“When I can't talk to my coach, literally the same things are just kind of going on in my own head,” Fritz said. “But it's nice to have someone there, because then I'll tell them what I'm thinking and then kind of get that confirmation.”

Outside of a team event like the ATP Cup, Fritz is against on-court coaching because he feels his mind could be a weapon, just like his forehand and other parts of his game.

“I think a big part of tennis is being able to strategise and understand what's going on in the match,” Fritz said. “I think tennis is an individual sport and I think a huge part of it is kind of doing these things and figuring it out by yourself.”

^{Photo Credit: Dan Peled/Tennis Australia}
The Team Zone was valuable for Fritz after he let slip four consecutive set points at 6/2 in the first-set tie-break. Russell was there to help him remain positive despite the disappointment of losing the opener.

“Obviously he was frustrated and disappointed that he didn’t win the first set. He had multiple chances being up pretty big in that tie-break,” Russell said. “But I said, ‘Look, it’s one set down and a little bit more of a challenge, but you’ve done the fitness and you’re ready. Just have a good start here and keep the energy up with positivity and have a good second set.’”

There is also a tablet in the Team Zone that allows captains and players to examine match statistics in real time. Russell said that they did not use the tablet as much during Isner’s win against Brayden Schnur, but Fritz was particularly curious about serving numbers.

“Usually during a match you don’t want to get so involved in the stats,” Russell said. “Because then you start second-guessing yourself and it’s more of the psychological factor that plays a part.”

Fritz’s victory clinched the United States’ first-ever ATP Cup win. The Americans will next play Germany on Tuesday at Ken Rosewall Arena.

"When we played in 2020, we didn't win a match, so first win for Team USA at the ATP Cup,” Fritz said. “It feels good."

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Medvedev Says ATP Cup Victory Among Most Emotional Of Career

Daniil Medvedev described Russia’s 2-1 victory against France on Sunday at ATP Cup as one of the most emotional days of his career as he partnered Roman Safiullin to ensure the reigning champion made a winning start in Sydney.

The World No. 2 watched Safiullin battle back to defeat Arthur Rinderknech, before the 25-year-old teamed with the World No. 167 to win the decisive doubles match, after Medvedev had lost to Ugo Humbert in a third-set tie-break in his singles rubber.

“I definitely had some emotional moments in my career, but this one would be in the top three, top five, because just look at Roman's match,” Medvedev said in Russia’s post-match press conference. “The way he fought back after [a] tough first set where we can say he lost it quite easily, and then the way he fought back, the way he played was unreal.

“Today was really emotional. In the doubles match I had a partner close to me and [it] is different when you have somebody by your side. The emotions I felt during the match already in the doubles when we broke in the second set was unbelievable, and I think I could hold them, but I didn't want to.”

Following the withdrawals of Andrey Rublev and Aslan Karatsev, Safiullin gained his opportunity for Team Russia and he capitalised on it, earning Russia two points in their opening Group B tie on his debut at the 16-team event.

“It was [a] great day for me,” Safiullin said. “I just won one point. The second point I share with Daniil because we both won, of course. It's not like I brought two points and Daniil was sitting, like, ‘Come on, Roman’."

Russia next plays Australia on Qudos Bank Arena on Tuesday.

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Melbourne Draw: Nadal, Kyrgios In Same Half; Murray In Action

Rafael Nadal makes a welcome return to the ATP Tour this week at the Melbourne Summer Set, where he has been drawn in the same half of the draw as Nick Kyrgios. Another former World No. 1, Andy Murray, also begins his 2022 campaign at the ATP 250 event that begins on Tuesday.

Spanish superstar Nadal, who has not played competitively since 5 August 2021 at the Citi Open due to a left foot injury, will challenge Marcos Giron or a qualifier in the second round. The 88-time tour-level titlist could face fourth seed David Goffin or Kyrgios in the semi-finals.

Nadal leads Goffin 4-2 in their ATP Head2Head series and the 35-year-old has a 5-3 advantage over Kyrgios, having won their past two meetings (2019 Wimbledon, 2020 Australia Open). Six of the 11 sets they have played in their past three matches, including Kyrgios victory at 2019 Acapulco, have been tie-breaks.

Kyrgios will first attempt to break a five-match losing streak in his first match since September against Alex Molcan, who lost to Novak Djokovic in last year’s Belgrade Open final.

Second seed Reilly Opelka and third seed Grigor Dimitrov feature in the bottom half of the draw, which includes fifth seed Benoit Paire, eighth seed Mackenzie McDonald, former World No. 3 Kevin Anderson and Murray.

Opelka, who reached his first ATP Masters 1000 final in Toronto last year, could face Paire, Anderson or Jaume Munar in the quarter-finals. Should Murray overcome Facundo Bagnis in the first round, he’d then challenge Dimitrov for the 12th time (Murray leads 8-3).

In a bid to get matches under his belt, Nadal is also participating in the Melbourne doubles draw with Munar. They face Australians Marc Polmans and Alexei Popyrin in the first round. Dimitrov and Goffin are also teaming up in a field led by Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski. Raven Klaasen and Ben McLachlan are the second seeds.

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De Minaur Fires Australia Level

Home favourite Alex de Minaur lifted the roof off Ken Rosewall Arena Sunday as he kept alive Australia’s opening tie hopes against Italy at ATP Cup.

The 22-year-old earned his fifth Top 10 win of his career as he upset World No. 7 Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 7-6(4) in Group B in Sydney to force a deciding doubles rubber.

"This court brings out the best in me," an emotional De Minaur said. Reflecting on a tough 2021, he added, "It's not about how many times you get knocked down. It's about how many times you get knocked down and get back up."

The 22-year-old demonstrated great agility and grit in his first match of the season and recovered from squandering a 5-3 lead in the second set to triumph after 86 minutes, levelling their ATP Head2Head series at 1-1.

The World No. 34, who won two tour-level titles in 2021, is making his third ATP Cup appearance, earning victories against Alexander Zverev and Denis Shapovalov in 2020.

Earlier, Jannik Sinner had produced a comprehensive performance on his ATP Cup debut to give Italy a 1-0 lead against home nation Australia.

The 20-year-old struck his groundstrokes powerfully and dominated the longer rallies to defeat Max Purcell 6-1, 6-3 in 64 minutes on Ken Rosewall Arena to earn his first victory of the year.

“It was a great match from my side,” Sinner said in his on-court interview. “I am very happy to have the first point for Team Italy and hopefully Matteo can finish it today. I felt very, very solid. I knew I had to play solid from the baseline because when he comes to the net it is very, very tough to pass him, so I tried to play deep. For the first match of the year, it could not have gone any better.”

Sinner enjoyed an impressive 2021 season, earning four tour-level titles and cracking the Top 10 in the ATP Rankings. The 2019 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals champion, who struck 13 winners and committed just three unforced errors against Purcell, is Italy’s No. 2 singles player at the 16-team event and will next play Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech on Tuesday.

ATP Cup format sees the No. 2 singles played first, with the No. 1 singles following. Doubles, with no-ad scoring and a match tie-break in place of a third set, is the final rubber of the tie.

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Evans Energises Great Britain With First Point At ATP Cup

Daniel Evans ensured Great Britain got off to a perfect start at the ATP Cup on Sunday in its Group C tie against Germany. World No. 25 Evans mixed up his tactics to keep Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff on the back foot in a 6-1, 6-2 victory over 69 minutes on Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.

“It’s a good way to start 2022,” said Evans. “I’ve been practising well, but I didn’t expect to play the match this well.”

Cameron Norrie will now attempt to clinch the tie-winning point, but the World No. 12 will need to record his first win against Alexander Zverev, who is at a career-high No. 3 in the ATP Rankings and finished 2021 with the Nitto ATP Finals crown. Zverev has beaten Norrie twice in 2019 at Acapulco and Montreal.

Evans completely dominated to extend his perfect record to 3-0 against Struff. The first set lasted 32 minutes, as Evans hit 12 winners and committed just four unforced errors. From 1-1 in the first set, the 31-year-old secured nine straight games to lead 4-0 in the second set. Evans played with high energy, nullified Struff’s powerful serve and got returns low over the net when the German serve-volleyed.

The ATP Cup format sees the No. 2 singles played first, followed by the No. 1 singles and doubles.

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