Matteo Berrettini stole the show on the opening day of the ATP Cup in Melbourne, with a dominating win over Austria’s Dominic Thiem.
The lanky Italian had the pressure on after his team-mate Fabio Fognini had put in a pathetic display to be easily beaten by world number 100 Dennis Novak.
The two results show the trajectory of the two Italian’s careers are heading in opposite directions.
Berrettini outclassed and overpowered Thiem from the very beginning of the match to take a 6-2, 4-0 lead, and despite a late rally from the Austrian, there was only ever going to be one winner.
Both players from both teams returned to the court for the decisive double match and it was the Italians who prevailed comfortably by two sets to nil.
Elsewhere on the opening day, Milos Raonic showed he is back to his best with a typical power-packed win over Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic.
That took the pressure of Canada’s young star Denis Shapovalov as he faced the dauting challenge of world number one Novak Djokovic.
The match took a familiar path with Shap bringing out all his passion and skill to stay with the great Serb.
However, in the crunch moments, as so often is the case, Djokovic kept his cool and let his opponent make mistakes, to claim a vital 7-5, 7-5 victory for Serbia.
The two Canadians returned to court for the deciding doubles while Djokovic was partnered by the talented Felip Krajinovic.
The Serb’s battled their way to a tight 7-5, 7-6 win and begin their ATP Cup campaign with a win.
In the Australian evening (and the British morning) it was the might of Spain taking on the hosts, while the star-studded Russian team faced Argentina.
The talented Russian pair of Rublev and Medvedev had little trouble in despatching their respective opponents of Pella and Schwartzman, although the Argentine doubles team of Zeballos and Gonzalez did claim a win in the tie over Rublev and Karatsev. That one win could yet prove vital in the final standings.
However, all eyes were on the glamour tie of Australia versus Spain.
Surprisingly, the Spaniards kept their star man Rafa Nadal on the bench for the opening match of the Cup.
However, it didn’t do them much harm as Pablo Carreno Busta delivered a comfortable 2-0 over Aussie veteran John Millman, and Roberto Bautista Agut sealed the points with a comeback 2-1 over the darling of Australian tennis Alex de Minaur.
The Spaniards completed the emphatic win by claiming the doubles match 2-0 too.
Looking ahead to tonight, the French team take to the court for the first time to play the unpredictable Italians.
With crazy man Benoit Paire and showman Gael Monfils as their two lead singles players, it is almost impossible to predict how the French team will fare.
Both players, particularly Monfils, can be mesmerising on their day, but equally can collapse and hand victory over to their opponents.
A lack of maturity and leadership in the French team, along with the scintillating form of Matteo Berrettini so far in the tournament, means you have to fancy the Italians to claim another win and secure their place in the next round.
The Canadians also return to court for day 2 of the ATP Cup, this time facing Germany.
On the face of it, there is little to choose between the pairs of Raonic and Shapovalov, and Zverev and Struff, so much will depend on how the players are divided to play which opponents, and who turns up on the day.
With Raonic looking like he has found his A-game, and the unbreakable confidence and self-belief of Shap, expect the Canadians to come out on top and keep their hopes of progressing alive.
Day 2’s evening session features the introduction of the Greek team to the ATP Cup. There is a huge weight on the shoulders of their lead player Stefanos Tsitsipas to win his matches, with his team-mate Michail Pervolarakis being only just ranked inside the world’s top 100.
Australia will be hoping to keep themselves in the tournament by defeating the Greeks. It is hard to see Pervolarakis claiming a win over Millman or de Minaur, so this one will depend on whether Tsitsipas can force the tie to the deciding doubles rubber. Even then, the Australians would have the stronger team.
The other game this evening, sees the strong Russian team take on Japan.
With only Kei Nishikori having any real pedigree in the game, it is hard to make a case for Japan being in the ATP Cup for much more than to make up the numbers.
However, the Japanese star is capable of claiming a win over Medvedev or Rublev and forcing a doubles decider.
That been said, expect the Russians to progress comfortably into the next round.
