New Year’s Eve with Spain-Chile to open the ATP Cup

Tennis does not give up. And in the antipodes, already with him New Year premiered there but with grapes in hand in Spain, Pablo Carreño will start at 00:00 hours (#Vamos) to play against the Chilean Alejandro Tabillo. It will be the first game of the ATP Cup, the country competition sponsored by ATP and Tennis Australia that since 2019 has competed with Davis, and will open a tennis course that starts conditioned by COVID-19 and the demand of the ‘aussie’ government to request vaccination of all tennis players who step on its soil. The Australian Open is just around the corner, from the 17th.

Spain, finalist in 2019 and semifinalist in 2021, is in group A together with Chile, Norway (early morning from Sunday to Monday from 00:00) and Serbia (early morning from Tuesday to Wednesday, at 07:30) in a tournament with 16 countries and four groups of which the first will compete in the semifinals. Each round, two singles and one doubles. The Spanish team does not have Rafa Nadal, who was not targeted and must decide after his positive for COVID-19 and the condition of his foot if he travels to Australia where he has been on the Melbourne ATP 250 list from day 4.

Thus, in addition to Pablo Carreño (20th), the Spanish team will form with Roberto Bautista (19th), which will then be measured with Cristian Garín on the first match, Albert Ramos (45º), Alejandro Davidovich (50º) and Pedro Martínez (60º). And in Serbia Novak Djokovic fell, who has not revealed whether he was vaccinated or not. “Until a day and a half ago he did not tell us that he did not play. But he has neither given us explanations nor have we asked for them. And he didn’t tell us what was happening with the Australian Open, “reported Dusan Lajovic (33rd), the now leader.

In the ATP Cup, the German block stands out, which recovers Alexander Zverev after turning his back on Davis. And Russia, the recent champion in Madrid, has lost potential. There is number two Daniil MedvedevBut Andrey Rublev was another of the victims of the coronavirus infection in Abu Dhabi and Aslan Karatsev and Karen Khachanov are not there either. Roman Safiaullin and Evgeny Karlovskiy make their level go down a lot. Italy, with Berrettini, Sinner, Sonego, Bolelli and Fognini will have a lot to say. And Great Britain with Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans.

“We are a very complete team,” says Bautista despite Nadal’s absence. “I know that the point of number two is very important and that I have a lot of responsibility,” Carreño is sincere. Who will not be able to act as captain is Dani Gimeno Traver, who was going to debut as Bautista’s new coach and tested positive when he arrived in Australia.

With the grapes still in the throat, the ATP Cup is presented as an alternative to the shows on New Year’s Eve.