SYDNEY, Jan 5: ATP Cup champion Novak Djokovic and runner-up Rafael Nadal are set to return for the season-opening men’s team tennis event starting Feb. 1, but the United States will be missing because of a change in format that has halved the field.
The inaugural event last year featured 24 teams and was played in three Australian cities, with Djokovic’s Serbia team beating Nadal and Spain in the final at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena.
The Feb. 1-5 second edition will involve 12 teams and be played entirely at Melbourne Park amid COVID-19 restrictions, along with WTA and ATP tournaments, in the week leading into the Australian Open.
The draw will be held Jan. 20, with teams divided into four groups. The winner of each round-robin group will advance to the semifinals.
Qualification for the ATP Cup was based on the ranking of each country’s top player, with Australia included on a wildcard entry. Other competing countries include Austria, Russia, Greece, Germany, Argentina, Italy, Japan, France and Canada.
All players arriving in Melbourne for the Australian Open will be required to quarantine for 14 days before the delayed start of the season’s first major. The Australian Open is usually staged in the last two weeks of January, but has been pushed back to Feb. 8-21 because of travel and other restrictions in place for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Qualifying for the men’s singles draw will take place in Doha, Qatar and for the women’s in Dubai, both from Jan. 10-13.
As with other sports, the international tennis calendar was disrupted in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, including the postponement of the French Open’s start from May to September, and the cancellation of Wimbledon for the first time since World War II. (AP)
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