Demon to take on Rafa
Rising Aussie star to take on all-time Spanish great in ATP Cup opener
ALEX de Minaur’s bid to reach the second week of the Australian Open for the first time will begin with a mouth-watering ATP Cup rematch with Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal.
De Minaur advanced to his maiden grand slam quarterfinal at last year’s US Open, but hasn’t gone beyond the third round at any major outside of Flushing Meadows.
One of the world No.23’s goals this season is to regularly
feature in the second week of slams, which equates to making at least the last 16.
De Minaur’s best result at Melbourne Park is progressing to the round-of-32 in 2019, but he missed last year’s tournament because of injury.
The ATP Cup schedule was released on Monday night, with Australia to face Nadal’s Spain next Tuesday night, before a match-up with Stefanos Tsitsipas-led Greece the following evening.
De Minaur pinched the first set off Nadal in the countries’ semi-final clash at last year’s inaugural event, only to lose to the 20-time grand slam champion for the third time in as many meetings.
However, the 21-year-old — fresh from winning the season-opening Antalya Open title — feels he’s “going in the right direction” against Nadal.
“It’s very exciting. To be honest, (knowing) my first match in the Australian summer is going to be against one of the greats is pretty special, so I’m really looking forward to it,” de Minaur said.
“I had a great match against him last year, so hopefully I can come out and bring a very high level again.
“I knew going in there my matches were going to be absolutely brutal, but it’s a great test to see where I’m at.
“Hopefully I can go out there and play some of my best tennis.”
Only 12 countries are competing in this year’s edition of the ATP Cup, with qualification based on the ranking of their No.1 player.
Australia received a wildcard entry as the host nation, with John Millman — who will lock horns with Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut — and doubles pair John Peers and Luke Saville rounding out the squad.
Serbia, Canada, Austria, Italy, Argentina, Russia, Germany, France and Japan join Australia, Spain and Greece in the tournament.
The ATP Cup start date was pushed back from Monday to Tuesday to afford quarantined players extra training time.