THE 2021 ATP Cup is shaping up to be an exciting contest with plenty to play for as tennis returns to Melbourne Park. While restricted numbers will limit crowds to some extent, players will still relish the opportunity to showcase their wares in the Australian summer, as the top 12 nations go head to head for the trophy.

Coming in as the team to beat is the inaugural winning nation, Serbia. Boasting world number one Novak Djokovic certainly helps, with an experienced team backing him up given two of his comrades were also part of the winning side in 2020. Like Serbia, Spain also boasts a highly talented and experienced side, headed up by Rafael Nadal. But where the Serbian team flourishes on hard court, the Spaniards are at their best on clay and could be at a disadvantage at Melbourne Park because of this, especially coming in as the 2020 runners-up – to Serbia.

Looking to group pools, and a couple of intriguing battles could come to the forefront. Both Australia and Greece have the potential to go far but feature in Group B alongside Spain, putting a dampener on spirits given the echelon of talent. Stefanos Tsitsipas could be Greece’s saving grace, though his team lacks experience and potency to a point, while young Aussie talent Alex de Minaur is certainly capable of pulling off excellent wins but perhaps is at a disadvantage named as Australia’s number one singles player. Expect a huge battle in Group A with Alexander Zverev heading up Germany and set to take on Djokovic, while Canada is in a similar position to Australia with an intriguing side but perhaps not potent enough to make it past the group stages.

Group D will create plenty of intrigue with Russia, Argentina and Japan heading up the side, with Japan perhaps in the most difficult position given Kei Nishikori leads the nation but realistically only made the competition thanks to his protected ranking – from early 2020. Both Japan and Argentina will have a tough time getting past Russia with dangerous duo Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev heading up the team, although the lack of depth in their squad through the doubles could be an issue further down the track. Group C is in a similar position, with France potentially lacking the most depth of the three nations in the pool, with out-of-form duo Gael Monfils and Benoit Paire leading the team, while Italy‘s team in singles duo Matteo Berrettini and Fabio Fognini are capable of going well but could perhaps lack that X-factor. Austria is the highest ranked team in the pool, with the ever-consistent Dominic Thiem heading up the nation.

Expect Serbia and Spain to lead the charge, with Russia up there – to a point – and Austria given the calibre of talent within that pool. But expect the likes of Australia, Germany and Greece to steal matches here and there and put their combinations to the test ahead of the Australian Open, with all 12 teams able to put the top nations to the test and push until the very end.

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