THE world’s top two ATP Tour players will face off in the ATP Cup final tonight when Serbia takes on Spain at Ken Rosewall Arena. Both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal had to overcome challenges from Daniil Medvedev‘s Russia and Alex de Minaur‘s Australia, but the two teams predicted to be there reached the final to be played out tonight.

Earlier yesterday, Dusan Lajovic set up Serbia with the number two singles win, defeating the in-form Karen Khachanov, 7-5 7-6 in a match that lasted almost two hours. Winning 79 per cent of his first serve points and 74 per cent of his second serves, Lajovic was the only player to break during the match with just the sole break point opportunity capitalised upon. Khachanov was on top at different points, producing nine aces and making it difficult for Lajovic to break. It was the same upon return for the Russian who could only win 22 per cent of the points when Lajovic was serving. The world number 17 was expected to win the clash, but Lajovic’s unbeaten streak against the 23-year-old continued, having won on all three occasions the pair had faced.

The win opened the door for a straight sweep for Serbia with world number two Djokovic coming up against world number five, Medvedev. With a 3-2 head-to-head win-loss ratio, Djokovic looked unstoppable in the first set, winning 6-1, before Medvedev played some inspired tennis in the second set to break the Serbian and level the scores. While Medvedev had the momentum throughout the second half of the match, the Grand Slam star continued to play shots that very few can and earned an amazing 6-1 5-7 6-4 victory. While he managed to be more consistent on serve (68 per cent first serve in and 71 per cent first serve points won), it did not stop the Russian breaking three times. Lucky for the Serbian star, he broke five times, three of which came in the first set. The win meant Djokovic helped his side through to the final and while it took almost three hours, he had a nice rest as his teammates, Nikola Cacic and Viktor Troicki won the doubles 6-4 7-6 in a dead rubber to win 3-0 overall.

In the night session, it was Nadal who had to battle hard to overcome a determined de Minaur to see his nation book a spot in the ATP Cup final. In the earlier match on the night, Roberto Bautista Agut pulled out all the stops in a 6-1 6-4 victory over Nick Kyrgios. While Kyrgios has played some inspired tennis over the week, he only won 58 per cent of his first serve points – from which 13 of his 22 winning points were aces. Bautista Agut might not have the shot play and X-factor that Kyrgios has, but he was relentless in his attack, putting his country up 1-0 with three breaks throughout the match and stopping the Australian from breaking him on serve. He won an impressive 80 per cent of his first serve points and levelled the head-to-head with Kyrgios at one-apiece in their first clash since 2015.

Needing to upset the world number one to keep his country’s fortunes alive, de Minaur got off to the perfect start against Nadal, winning the first set 6-4. Even in the second set when Nadal was producing some terrific shot play, a determined de Minaur matched him at times in what was one of the best matches of the ATP Cup. When Nadal finally took the second set 7-5 having broken de Minaur again, he built on the momentum and ran out the final set 6-1 for a 4-6 7-5 6-1 come-from-behind victory. The Australian capitalised on the Spaniard’s second serve, winning 57 per cent of points, but he struggled to contain him on the first serve with Nadal winning 79 per cent of the points compared to 67. Nadal also made the most of his break point opportunities, breaking four times to de Minaur’s twice during the two hour, 13 minute match. In the end, Nadal’s experience saw him home and booked his team’s spot in the decider. The straight sweep also meant Nadal earned a rest from the doubles, instead looking to the pairing of Pablo Carreno Busta and Feliciano Lopez to win in a tight 6-2 6-7 10-4 match to make it 3-0.

Tonight Bautista Agut will head in as favourite against Lajovic in the opening singles starting at 6.30pm, before all eyes will be on the Djokovic-Nadal clash. Depending on the results, the pair could then suit up for the doubles, known for filling that spot with a teammate when the match is still live.