Yesterday was heavy conditions.”, To the crowd: “It’s been a pleasure playing in front of you guys. Fri 10 Jan 2020 23.21 EST. Shortening points, firing winners. Questions for Nadal to answer, and technical ones, not just matchplay. At the Australian Open last year, De Minaur tried to out-rally Nadal. Last modified on Sat 11 Jan 2020 07.26 EST. Watch later. He should see the game out, but again on the backhand side, he can’t put away a delicate volley at the net then an overhead, and suddenly the crowd is back involved at 40-30. And that hole gobbles him up when he is way long on the first of Nadal’s break points. The top Serbian dismissed World No. Second set: de Minaur* 6-4 4-4 Nadal (*denotes server): De Minaur isn’t just staying with Nadal when rallies form, he’s dictating terms, playing with such intensity he invites the error. He fights hard to earn 15-30 then 30-30, the latter point courtesy of what is an increasingly prominent problem Nadal is having on his backhand. “Keep backing yourself mate!” bellows Hewitt from the corner with hands cupped to his mouth. looking really fired up despite not being able to handle the Brits in the first He can’t force his way through though as Nadal finds his range off the tee to move to 40-30, then survives a testing rally that de Minaur throws the kitchen sink at. The decision of Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt to pick Nick Kyrgios and Alex de Minaur for the doubles tie was a bit controversial, considering that the two players had finished their singles’ matches just a few hours earlier. Second set: Kyrgios* 1-6 4-5 Bautista Agut (*denotes server): For the umpteenth time tonight Kyrgios is 0-30 down on his normally dominant serve, that soon becomes 15-40 and Bautista Agut has two match points. Published 11 Jan 2020, 08:54 IST Disappointment today after those defeats for Kyrgios and de Minaur, but nevertheless a successful campaign. Round : Serbia: 2 - 1: Spain: 12th Jan - 08h45: Roberto Bautista Agut: def. #ATPCup pic.twitter.com/H2VShTTF7x. The victory over the Great Britain team means that the Australians have qualified for the ATP Cup 2020 semi-final. Spain move to within two games of the match, and the tie. At 30-40 what feels like would could be a pivotal rally begins to unfold, players shifting one side then the other before de Minaur hits long. The Spain bench is in disbelief. Third set: de Minaur 6-4, 5-7, 1-6 Nadal* (*denotes server): De Minaur bamboozles Nadal with a couple of half-volley forehands to open, but he has a lapse in concentration following a lengthy second point and sends a ball out. Behind yet another boisterous pro-Serbia crowd on Saturday afternoon in Sydney, Djokovic clinched the team's fifth consecutive victory at the ATP Cup and booked its place in the inaugural title match. “Today was probably one of the best moments of my career, definitely. 1 singles: Alex de Minaur (AUS) def by. @alexdeminaur/@NickKyrgios put on a gusty performance to outlast Murray/Salisbury 3-6 6-3 [18-16] and punch the final four ticket.#ATPCup | #Final8 | #GBRAUS pic.twitter.com/d7doEkPswn. He’s also the most pumped man in the world right now. It was held from 3-12 January 2020 at three venues in the Australian cities of Brisbane, Perth, and Sydney. From the section. Nadal responds with trademark intensity, winning four points in a row with steadily increasing force to get on the scoreboard. He moves to 30-0 up on Nadal’s serve, albeit thanks to a net cord on the second point, for which he holds up his hands up in what Jim Courier earlier, and correctly, called a “fauxpology”. If the opening match was hard to call before it got underway, there’s no doubting the second rubber looks lopsided on paper. De Minaur steals a point but Nadal closes out the game in quick time. The rally at 30-30 begins conservative but grows in intensity and significance every shot, Nadal grinding his way into the ascendancy, eventually forcing an error. Tap to unmute. DEMON POSSESSED 😈🇦🇺 @alexdeminaur leads Nadal 6-4! It would be perverse to call it the yips, but for a man of his calibre it is alarming how off his timing is. Quarter-final 1, from 10am AEDT: Australia 2 def Great Britain 1. They’ve met twice before, Nadal winning both in straight sets, most recently at last year’s Australian Open. For perhaps the second time tonight there’s a glimmer of some form and energy coming from Kyrgios, and he converts it into an advantage after an unusually unrythmical rally. Serbia's Novak Djokovic battled through a stirring challenge from rising Canadian star Denis Shapovalov on Friday to propel his country into the semi-finals of the inaugural ATP Cup … The final score of this ATP Cup 2020 All rights reserved. UPDATE - Thursday 12.20am AEDT: All six group winners have been decided, with Australia, Great Britain, Russia, Serbia, Spain and Argentina advancing to the Final … Serving as the opener for the 2020 ATP Tour, it was the first ATP team tournament since the last edition of the World Team Cup in 2012. Excitements started even before the players arrived at the courts in Sydney. He is in pure flow. Second set: de Minaur* 6-4 5-5 Nadal (*denotes server): There’s just the merest hint of de Minaur dropping his intensity out there, but it hardly matters because Nadal is so off his game. De Minaur finds himself in a hole at 0-40 down. It was the season-ending event for the highest-ranked singles players and doubles teams on the 2020 ATP Tour. What a start! For me, energy levels have been a bit low. De Minaur climbs all over Nadal’s second serve, smashing it with both feet off the ground miles inside the baseline, and he follows that up with a blistering inside-out forehand down the line to go up 0-30. But RBA remains impassive and whips a forehand down the line with masses of side-spin that swings into the corner to return us to deuce. First published on Sat 11 Jan 2020 01.58 EST. The same is the case with the other semi-final, where … Second set: de Minaur 6-4 2-3 Nadal* (*denotes server): Another backhand error from Nadal levels the scores at 15-all, then the first double fault of the match opens the door for de Minaur. He lost 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. The two national teams have their quarter-final duels on the program today. The Spaniard is soon back on his own terms through, ascending to 30-15 with a superb forehand winner down the line. ATP Cup semi-final: Spain beat Australia – as it happened! Third set: de Minaur* 6-4, 5-7, 0-2 Nadal (*denotes server): Oof, Nadal creams a crosscourt backhand winner back past the advancing de Minaur on the first point. The Great Britain team won the first set relatively comfortably 6-3. Nadal kicks off the third set with the ball in hand, knowing the momentum is with him and Spain at this point in time. The same is the case with the other semi-final, where Russia will play either against Serbia or Canada. 2 singles: Nick Kyrgios (AUS) def by. Nick Kyrgios and Alex de Minaur won the decisive doubles tie against Great Britain’s Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury. The lazy narrative (that I’m sure we’ll seen soon enough) would be all about Nick Kyrgios choking, smashing his racquet or failing to live up to the hype, but he was simply outplayed by a superb top-ten opponent whose discipline, patience, and defensive brilliance controlled the match as soon as it began. Third set: de Minaur* 6-4, 5-7, 1-5 Nadal (*denotes server): Nadal’s power is there for all to see – forehand, backhand, both are put to devastating use this game. The doubles tie was the decisive match that brought Australia the advantage after the two singles’ duels had set the score even at 1:1. This is a country which has a big respect for the sport, so a big thank you.”, On tomorrow’s final against Serbia and his old foe Novak Djokovic: “It’s going to be a tough battle.”.