The ATP has today announced the Top 18 countries in the ATP Cup Standings and Australia, host wild card, as qualifiers for the inaugural ATP Cup, to be held from 3-12 January in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney.

Every member of the Top 10 in the ATP Rankings — including Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Switzerland’s Roger Federer — and 27 of the Top 30 have committed to play at the ATP Cup, which will serve as the spectacular launch of the 2020 ATP Tour season. In addition, Andy Murray qualifies Great Britain by virtue of his Protected Ranking of 2.

View Updated Standings, Qualified Teams & Committed Players

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman and President, said: “We’re delighted to see such a star-studded player field lining up for the inaugural ATP Cup. Our belief was that week one in the calendar, together with Tennis Australia, would work best for player scheduling, and today’s announcement is a confirmation of that. Having the top players competing in this new global event is critical, and the ATP Cup looks set to kick off the ATP Tour season in a big way in 2020.”

Craig Tiley, Tennis Australia CEO, said: “This is an incredibly exciting time for tennis fans. We are thrilled with the amazing support the ATP Cup has attracted from the players. This event will globally launch the tennis season in a manner that will enthrall fans and entice the next generation to our sport. January can’t come quick enough.”

ATP CUP QUALIFIED COUNTRIES – FIRST ENTRY DEADLINE

The top two players for each country are committed to play, subject to change based on the ATP Rankings at the second entry deadline on 13 November, when remaining team members (up to an additional three players) will gain acceptance. Additionally, on that date, a further five countries will qualify to complete at the 24-country ATP Cup based on the ranking of their No. 1 singles player.

The group stages of the AU $22 million/US $15 million ATP Cup, which is being staged in partnership with Tennis Australia, will be hosted in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney over six days. Eight countries will then play at the ATP Cup Final Eight in Sydney that will feature quarter-finals over two days, semi-finals and a final. Each tie will comprise of two singles and one doubles match.

Countries will be drawn into one of six groups on Monday, 16 September, during a ceremony at the Sydney Opera House, with the full schedule for all six days of group play available later in the day. Fans will be able to buy tickets when the public sale opens on Wednesday, 18 September. You can watch a live stream of Monday’s draw on the ATP Cup’s Facebook page.

Dominic Thiem gave Austria a point on Friday in Davis Cup Group I action, helping his country to a split of the opening day’s rubbers in Espoo, Finland.

Thiem, who is trying to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the fourth consecutive year, beat World No. 551 Patrik Niklas-Salminen 6-3, 6-4 after a tough one-hour, 36-minute battle. The 14-time ATP Tour titlist, who has now won nine straight Davis Cup singles matches, broke serve on two of his nine opportunities, and he saved the three chances his Finnish opponent earned.

Emil Ruusuvuori evened the tie for the home country, defeating Sebastian Ofner by an identical 6-3, 6-4 scoreline. The third rubber, to be held on Saturday, will be star-studded as Oliver Marach and Jurgen Melzer are scheduled to take on two-time Nitto ATP Finals doubles champion Henri Kontinen (w/Peers) and Harri Heliovaara.

Davis Cup Results

Sweden got off to a fast start against Israel, as #NextGenATP star Mikael Ymer beat Edan Leshem 6-3, 7-5 and Markus Eriksson defeated Dudi Sela 7-6(6), 6-0 to give their country a 2-0 lead.

In other action, Belarus and Portugal split two rubbers heading into Saturday’s play. Joao Sousa gave Portugal a point by rallying past Ilya Ivashka 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 before Egor Gerasimov evened the tie with a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Joao Domingues.

Davis Cup Group I and Group II ties are promotion and relegation ties for 2020. Group I victors this week will filter into 2020 Davis Cup qualifiers in February. They do not affect the 2019 Davis Cup Finals, which already features 16 teams.

The Official Draw for the most exciting new event in world tennis, ATP Cup 2020, will take place at one of Australia’s most iconic landmarks, the Sydney Opera House on Monday 16 September.

The locations of where the global superstars of the sport will start their 2020 season and which countries will compete in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney will be revealed at the draw.

The ATP Cup will feature 24 countries going head-to-head to battle for the new world title as well as AUD $22 million in prize money and valuable ATP Ranking Points.

Three Australian former world No.1’s Ken Rosewall, John Newcombe and Pat Rafter, will take part in the Official Draw proceedings in Sydney.

They will be joined by Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley and Chief Operating Officer Tom Larner along with ATP Executive Vice President, Rules & Competition Gayle David Bradshaw and Chief Player Officer Ross Hutchins.

Official Draw events are also taking place in both Brisbane and Perth to mark the occasion.

Australian tennis great John Fitzgerald and Tennis Australia Director of Professional Tennis Wally Masur will be in Queensland while former Australian players and commentators Sam Groth and Geoff Masters will take part in the Western Australia event.

The Official Draw will be broadcast to a global audience on the ATP Cup Facebook page from 10:40am AEST so fans can follow from around the world. The latest news and live updates will be posted on Twitter and Instagram.

The ATP Cup Draw TV Show will reveal the detailed schedule at 5:00pm AEST and a panel of tennis analysts will discuss the day’s events. Fans can tune in via ATP Cup social media.

HOW THE ATP CUP STANDINGS WORK

•  The current ATP Cup Standings (view), based on the ATP Ranking position of each country’s top-ranked singles player, is a provisional entry list and an indication of which countries and players are likely to compete
•  Participation is subject to players committing to the event by the tournament’s two entry deadlines of Friday 13 September for the first 18 teams, or Wednesday 13 November, for the remaining six teams
•  If not included in the top 18 at the first entry deadline, Australia will receive a host country wildcard. Australia currently sits at No.20 in the ATP Cup standings
•  To appear on the ATP Cup Standings a country must have at least two players with an ATP singles ranking and at least one other player with an ATP singles or ATP doubles ranking
•  A country may have up to five players. If a team has five players, at least three must have an ATP Singles ranking. If less than five players, a team must have at least two players with an ATP Singles ranking
•  The two highest-ranked singles players of the teams qualifying at the first entry deadline will be eligible to compete at the 2020 event, subject to their rankings remaining as the top two players from their country at the second deadline, at which point the full team will be determined
•  A player with a Protected Ranking (PR) is eligible to enter provided the PR is valid at the applicable entry deadline, as per ATP Cup rules
•  The Finals, to be played in Sydney, will feature eight teams: the six group winners and the two best-performing second-placed teams.

HOW THE OFFICIAL DRAW WILL WORK

•  On Monday 16 September, the top 18 teams will be divided into six groups, two groups will be assigned to each of the three host cities
•  The first six countries will be placed into six groups. Countries 7-12 will then be randomly drawn into each of the groups, followed by countries 13-18
•  If Australia is outside of the top 18 countries at the first entry deadline, they will receive a wildcard and be randomly allocated to one of the six groups as the 19th team
•  The remaining qualifying teams will be drawn and allocated after the second entry deadline.

FORMAT

•  The tournament will be played at Brisbane’s Pat Rafter Arena, Perth’s RAC Arena and Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena, where the venue is currently undergoing a redevelopment. Sydney has secured the finals of the tournament until 2022
•  Each tie comprises two best-of-three-sets singles matches and one doubles match played under the regular ATP Tour doubles format (including no-ad points and a match tie-break in lieu of a third set)
•  On-court coaching will be allowed
•  An undefeated singles player could earn up to 750 ATP Rankings points and an undefeated doubles player could earn up to 250 points.

SCHEDULE

•  The ATP Cup schedule will be available on ATPCup.com at 5:00pm AEST on Monday 16 September.

TICKETS

•  All tickets including hospitality, packages and single session tickets will go on sale for each host city on Wednesday 18 September. Adult tickets will start at $30 and children’s tickets at $5.

Do returners win more points against first or second serves?

Returners have more exposure against first serves, as north of 60 per cent are typically made, but it’s always easier to make hay against second serves. So what’s your guess?

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of the current Top 10 identifies that, on average, players win slightly more second-serve points than first, but it’s a very close tussle. So far in 2019, seven members of the current Top 10 have won more points against second serves, while three have won more against first serves.

It’s important to note that one metric is not necessarily better than the other, as how many first serves an opponent makes, or misses, will also play a part. It’s more about understanding how different players, using different playing styles, find a way to navigate their way to victory from a returning standpoint.

Daniil Medvedev, who is up to a career-high No. 4 in the ATP Rankings following his run to the US Open final in New York, has won more second-serve return points this season than any other member of the Top 10, with 956. In taking the Cincinnati title, Medvedev comparatively won a higher ratio of second-serve return points compared to his season average.

Of the 1,637 return points Medvedev won in 2019 leading into Cincinnati, 52.4 per cent of those came on his opponents’ second serves and 47.6 per cent came on opponents’ first serves.

But in his six Cincinnati matches, 58.7 per cent of all points he won on return came on opponents’ second serves. That’s a significant increase of 6.3 percentage points on his season average.

Medvedev: First-Serve Return Points Won vs. Second-Serve Return Points Won
(bold = percentage second serve return points won)

Roberto Bautista Agut has just cracked the Top 10 for the first time, and he has won the second most number of second-serve return points among the Top 10 this season, with 937. The five other players who have all won more second-serve return points this season compared to first-serve return points are Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Dominic Thiem, Kei Nishikori and Karen Khachanov.

Rafael Nadal is one of three current Top 10 players who has won more points returning first serves compared to second serves this season. The other two players are Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The Top 10 combine to have a slender edge in second-serve return points won so far in 2019.

Current Top 10: 2019 Season Return Points Won
Total 1st Return Won = 7,683 (49.6%)
Total 2nd Return Won = 7,820 (50.4%)
Total Return Points = 15,503

Winning return points is never easy, and where elite level players collect the most from is not always the same.

Current Top 10: 2019 Return Points Won (bold = most)

With less than two months to go until the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 10-17 November, ATPTour.com looks at the numbers behind the 2019 ATP Tour season.

SINGLES TITLES LEADERS
Spain’s Rafael Nadal has won the most tour-level titles so far this year, with two Grand Slam championship crowns at Roland Garros (12) and the US Open (4), plus two ATP Masters 1000s at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome (9) and the Coupe Rogers (5) in Montreal. Twenty unseeded players have won titles this season.

Seven players have won two titles this season.

SINGLES FINAL APPEARANCES
Russia’s Daniil Medvedev has contested six hard-court and one clay-court final this year, with wins at the ATP 250-level Sofia Open in February and his first Masters 1000 trophy at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati in August. Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, a winner of two titles in 2019, won the MercedesCup trophy in Stuttgart without being broken all week (50 games). Overall, the player winning the first set of a final in 2019 has become the eventual champion 47 of 52 times (.904).

DOUBLES TITLES LEADERS
Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah have a 5-2 record in tour-level doubles final in 2019, including major championship successes at Wimbledon and the US Open. They also successfully retained the Masters 1000-level Rome crown in May.

YOUNGEST FINALS
The youngest (combined age) ATP Tour final of the year featured 23-year-old Serbian Laslo Djere beating 18-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 7-5 on 24 February at the Rio Open presented by Claro.

OLDEST FINALS
With a combined age of 71, 37-year-old Spaniard Feliciano Lopez beat 34-year-old Gilles Simon of France 6-2, 6-7(4), 7-6(2) for his second Fever-Tree Championships singles title on 23 June. Later in the day, he also partnered British favourite Andy Murray to the doubles title at The Queen’s Club.

ALL TOP 10 FINALS (9)
There have been nine occasions in 2019 when two Top 10 stars have met in a tour-level final. Incredibly, the Mutua Madrid Open and Roland Garros mark the only two times this year that all four semi-finalists have been ranked inside the Top 10.

FIRST-TIME ATP TITLISTS (14)
Players trying to win their first ATP Tour title are 14-17 this season, which is the most first-time winners in a season since 1999, when there were 16 (13-11 in 2018 finals)

MATCH POINTS SAVED TITLISTS (10)

LONGEST WINNING STREAKS
Nadal built up an ATP Tour-best 17-match winning streak from 15 July in Rome to losing to Roger Federer on 12 July in the Wimbledon semi-finals. The Spaniard’s current 10-match streak began on 7 August in Montreal. Medvedev went 20-3 on North American hard-courts this summer, including a 12-match winning run.

LONGEST BEST OF THREE SETS MATCHES (TIME) – 24 Matches over 3 hours
There have been 16 instances of all tie-break scores in three-or-four-set matches in 2019, with the longest singles tie-break coming in the Australian Open second round when Thomas Fabbiano beat Reilly Opelka 7-6(15) in the first set. The longest doubles Match Tie-break was in the Tata Open Maharashtra quarter-finals when Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan beat Leander Paes and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela 6-7(4), 6-4 17-15.

OVERALL MATCH WINS LEADERS
Medvedev, the 2019 match wins leader, also has the most hard-court wins with a 37-9 record – 15 victories more than second-placed Roger Federer or Gael Monfils (both 23). The Russian is 8-1 on indoor courts, tied with Gael Monfils (8-1) and also Mikhail Kukushkin (8-3).

ATP RANKINGS IMPROVEMENTS (From year-end 2018 to 9 September 2019)
Two #NextGenATP players, Canada’s Auger-Aliassime, who has reached three ATP Tour finals in 2019, and Antalya runner-up Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia, have both made significant jumps into the Top 50 of the ATP Rankings this season. View Latest ATP Rankings

Statistics courtesy of Joshua Rey and Greg Sharko

Following a North American hard-court summer to remember, Daniil Medvedev returns to his home country at a career-high World No. 4 and will attempt to become the first Russian to win the St. Petersburg Open since Mikhail Youzhny 15 years ago. The 23-year-old Medvedev, who came up just short against Rafael Nadal in the US Open final, will be looking to reach a fifth straight final (Washington, Montreal, Cincinnati, US Open). 

Medvedev’s countrymen, Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev, also return to Russia as strong contenders for the ATP 250 title. World No. 9 Khachanov is an ATP Masters 1000 champion, claiming the Rolex Paris Masters title in November. Rublev recorded big upsets in August, posting back-to-back wins over Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer in Cincinnati and knocking out Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round of the US Open.

In addition to the Russian trio, the St. Petersburg field includes US Open semi-finalist Matteo Berrettini, Borna Coric, Stan Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych.

Here’s all you need to know about the St. Petersburg tennis tournament: what is the schedule, where to watch, who has won and more. 

Established: 1995

Tournament Dates: 16-22 September 2019

Tournament Director: Olesya Gankevich

Draw Ceremony: Sunday, 15 September at 1:00pm on-site

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Schedule (View On Official Website)
* Qualifying: starts Sunday at 11:00am
* Main draw: Monday at 3:00pm, Tuesday – Saturday 1:00pm
* Doubles final: Sunday, 22 September at 2:00pm
* Singles final: Sunday, 22 September at 4:30pm

How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV 
TV Schedule

Venue: Sibur Arena
Main Court Seating: 7,120
Surface: Indoor Hard

Prize Money: US $1,180,000 (Total Financial Commitment: US $1,248,665)  

Tickets On Sale: Buy Now

View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown

Honour Roll (Open Era)
Most Titles, Singles: Thomas Johansson, Andy Murray, Marat Safin (2)
Most Titles, Doubles: Nenad Zimonjic (3)

2018 Finals
Singles: [1] Dominic Thiem (AUT) d Martin Klizan (SVK) 63 61   Read & Watch
Doubles: Matteo Berrettini (ITA) / Fabio Fognini (ITA) d [3] Roman Jebavy (CZE) / Matwe Middelkoop (NED) 76(6) 76(4)  Read More

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Did You Know… Yevgeny Kafelnikov won the inaugural edition of the St. Petersburg Open in 1995. Marat Safin became the first player to win back-to-back titles in 2000-01.