Before the start of the inaugural ATP Cup, Polish No. 1 Hubert Hurkacz spoke about how important it is to him to motivate children in Poland with his tennis. It’s safe to say that his efforts on Saturday in Sydney were plenty inspirational.

Hurkacz rallied to defeat World No. 14 Diego Schwartzman 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in two hours and 18 minutes to even the tie between Team Poland and Team Argentina at one match apiece.

Hurkacz first broke onto the scene in 2018, earning a spot at the Next Gen ATP Finals. And last year, he took his level even higher, winning his first ATP Tour title in Winston-Salem to become just the second Polish singles champion in the Open Era (Wojtek Fibak). He climbed as high as No. 33 in the FedEx ATP Rankings.

In his first meeting against Schwartzman, Hurkacz showed he could potentially soar even higher. After Schwartzman rode the cheers of the Argentines in the crowd to an early lead, Hurkacz buckled down on serve. The Pole was broken in his first service game, but then held serve the next 13 times behind 18 aces en route to his triumph.

Argentine Guido Pella gave his country the advantage earlier in the day with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 win against Pole Kamil Majchrzak.

Pella finished 2019 with a career-best 36 tour-level wins after a campaign in which he won his first ATP Tour title and completed the year as the No. 2 Argentine for the first time. Based on his performance in his first match of 2020, the lefty appears primed to maintain that momentum. The World No. 25 broke serve five times in his two-hour, four-minute triumph.

“I’m pretty happy overall. First of all, because I think I played a very good match in the first and third set. In the second, I was feeling a little bit tired because of the heat,” Pella said. “But I think I served very good in the third set, and I fought for every ball. That’s my game. So I felt very, very good on court.”

The 29-year-old had plenty of support from the crowd inside Ken Rosewall Arena. After shaking hands and heading back to celebrate with his countrymen in their Team Zone, fans chanted, “Ole, ole, ole! Guido! Guido!”

“I didn’t know that Sydney has so many Argentines, so it was a big shock for me,” Pella said. “It was almost full, the stadium. They were cheering for me, so it was a very nice atmosphere for the first tournament of the year.”

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Both players struggled landing their first serves in their first match of the season, with each man making less than 50 per cent of his first deliveries. That led to many baseline battles, with Pella trying to dictate play with his heavy forehand and Majchrzak trying to avoid being put on the back foot.

It was Pella who was the more solid player under pressure, and he broke for the second time in the decider to finish off Majchrzak, with the Pole missing a curling forehand approach shot just long.

Chile is back. For much of the past decade, the future of men’s tennis in the South American country that produced champions such as Marcelo Rios, Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu appeared dim.

At the end of 2014, for instance, the country had zero men inside the Top 190 of the FedEx ATP Rankings.

Rios, the first South American man to reach No. 1, played his last match in 2004; Gonzalez, an 11-time ATP Tour champion, won his final title in 2009; and Massu, a six-time ATP Tour champion and 2004 Athens gold medalist (d. Fish), earned his final Top 100 ranking (No. 99) in June 2010.

After them came no one. From 2011 to 2017, zero Chilean men finished a season inside the Top 100.

But in the past couple years, two 20-somethings hungry to restore tennis greatness in their country have emerged and not only given Chile hope for its tennis future, they have placed their country back on the global stage.

Last year, Cristian Garin, 23, won two ATP Tour titles in Houston and Munich, beating two Nitto ATP Finals qualifiers, Alexander Zverev and Matteo Berrettini, en route to the Munich crown, and 24-year-old Nicolas Jarry reached the Geneva final and captured his maiden ATP Tour title in Bastad.

This week, the two will star in three more global opportunities for Chile. The country will face France, Serbia and South Africa in Group A at the inaugural ATP Cup in Brisbane.

“We have Cris and Nico and two more younger players coming up, and I think they’re going to create a very powerful team for the future,” said Hans Podlipnik-Castillo, their ATP Cup teammate. “They’re already showing amazing results, and I think being here proves that Chile is back on the world’s elite and that’s very positive for the country.”

Few countries can match Chile’s recent tennis success, and Garin and Jarry both grew up watching and drawing inspiration from the likes of Gonzalez and Massu. Garin watched them at the former ATP event in Vina del Mar, Massu’s hometown.

“I have great memories of both of them. I went to Vina del Mar to watch them both play many times and now consider Nicolas to be a friend. He talks to my coach every day, and I know he’s really proud of me now,” Garin told ATPTour.com last year.

Jarry came to tennis through his grandfather, Jaime Fillol Sr., who reached No. 14 in the FedEx ATP Rankings and won six ATP Tour titles, but Jarry also studied Gonzalez and Massu as a boy.

“I watched all the big names and saw what they did or didn’t do to get better. I knew I was going to be a tall guy and I watched Fernando and Nicolas a lot. But it’s been really fun growing up with tennis in my life,” Jarry said last year.

Both Garin and Jarry, however, have more than forged their own trail to ATP greatness. When Garin was 16, he became only the fifth player 16 or younger since 2000 to win an ATP Tour match. The Chilean beat Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic at Vina del Mar.

Four months later, in June 2013, he drew more comparisons to Chile’s greats. At 17 years old, he won the Roland Garros junior boys title, beating Zverev in the final. Garin became the first Chilean to win the Roland Garros junior title since Gonzalez in 1998.

Garin expected himself – and Chile – to go straight up from there. “After I won that ATP match, I had to play Futures, quallies of Challengers, it was so different… it’s tough,” he said.

But he stuck with it, and last year, in his first Roland Garros main draw, he earned his maiden Grand Slam win. Garin also reached a new-career high of No. 32 in the FedEx ATP Rankings.

Jarry, 24, has steadily hiked the FedEx ATP Rankings as well, finishing No. 99 in 2017, ending the Chilean Top 100 year-end drought, and reaching a new career-high of No. 38 last July.

“It’s been an amazing journey since the beginning,” Jarry said. “Like any tennis player, there have been a lot of ups and downs. [In 2018], in my first year on the ATP Tour, reaching my first final [in Sao Paulo], then a couple of semi-finals. Things have happened to push me and to keep fighting.”

Together at the ATP Cup, he and Garin will try to push Chile another step further in their bid to bring more tennis greatness to their country.

“We are all very close to each other, and we are trying to improve together,” Garin said. “I think that we have good years coming so we have to keep working, keep doing the same things and keep enjoying the life of the tennis player.”

After saving two match points against John Isner to force a winner-takes-all doubles match at the ATP Cup, Casper Ruud combined with Viktor Durasovic to earn a 2-1 win for Team Norway against Team United States on Friday.

The Norwegian duo recovered from a set down in Perth to beat Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram 4-6, 6-3, 10-5 and move to 1-0 in Group D. Ruud and Durasovic won 78 per cent of service points (45/58) throughout the encounter to claim the win after 76 minutes.

“I think I made a great effort today,” said Ruud. “We were one point away from losing the tie, and even if I’d lost [against Isner] 7-6, 7-6, I wouldn’t have thought I’d done a lot wrong. We tried to play aggressively in the doubles, against two good doubles players, but we’re good singles players and tried to win our way, not coming to the net a lot. We’re very happy to beat Team United States”.

Team Bulgaria also recovered from two match points down en route to a 2-1 victory in its opening tie against Team Great Britain. Grigor Dimitrov and Alexandar Lazarov claimed four consecutive points from 7/9 down in the Match Tie-break to stun Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 11-9. The tie, which featured deciding sets in each of its three matches, ended at 2:46am local time.

“I was just telling them, ‘Guys, this easily can be a historical moment for us. Just do it to remember.’ I don’t know if in the history, per se, but I think it means a lot for the whole team,” Dimitrov said. “That’s why we’re here. That’s why we play. I think this event has been a great start for us, great start of the year, great start of the event. But all I can say is I’m just really proud of the boys.”

After winning their singles matches, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov earned a third victory for Canada against Greece at Pat Rafter Arena. The #NextGenATP stars dropped just two points behind their first serves (24/26) to beat Michail Pervolarakis and Petros Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-3.

Karen Khachanov and Daniil Medvedev were both on double duty for Team Russia in Perth. After Khachanov defeated Stefano Travaglia and Medvedev overcame Fabio Fognini in singles action, the Russian stars combined to beat Simone Bolelli and Paolo Lorenzi 6-4, 6-3.

Belgium secured its own 3-0 victory with doubles success as Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen edged Radu Albot and Alexander Cozbinov 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 11-9. Gille and Vliegen, who lifted three ATP Tour titles together in 2019, entered the contest with victory confirmed for Belgium after Steve Darcis and David Goffin’s singles victories.

There was also a home win for Team Australia’s Chris Guccione and John Peers. The doubles pairing added to the singles triumphs of Alex de Minaur and Nick Kyrgios to complete the 3-0 sweep for the home nation, defeating Nitto ATP Finals qualifiers Andreas Mies and Kevin Krawietz 6-3, 6-4.

With fast starts, big upsets and winner-takes-all doubles contests, Day 1 featured plenty of excitement for ATP Cup fans in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney.

Here are 10 of the biggest take aways from the opening day of action:

1) Canada’s Next Gen: In the opening tie at Pat Rafter Arena, Canada began its bid for the ATP Cup crown with an impressive 3-0 victory against Greece. Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov swept all six sets contested in the tie, claiming singles victories before combining well on the doubles court.

2) Kyrgios Shares Bushfire Emotions: After his straight-sets win against Jan-Lennard Struff in Brisbane, Nick Kyrgios took a moment to discuss the devastating bushfires across Australia and shared his heartache at conditions in his hometown of Canberra. Alongside the ATP Cup’s pledge to donate $10 to relief efforts for every ace hit during the 10-day competition, Kyrgios is one of many Team Australia stars that will be making personal donations for every ace they serve. There were 216 aces hit across Brisbane, Perth and Sydney on Day 1, raising $21,600.

3) Ruud Rallies: After Taylor Fritz’s win against Viktor Durasovic, John Isner held two match points against Casper Ruud in a second-set tie-break to claim victory for Team United States. But Ruud responded emphatically, stunning Isner in three sets before combining with Durasovic for a Match Tie-break win against Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram to earn Team Norway its first ATP Cup victory.

4) Never Give Up: Team Norway were not the only side to claim victory from the brink of defeat. In a tie-deciding doubles Match Tie-break against Team Great Britain, Team Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov and Alexandar Lazarov also recovered from two match points down to secure a 2-1 triumph for their country. Dimitrov and Lazarov won four consecutive points from 7/9 down to stun Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 11-9.

5) Video Review Makes ATP Cup Debut: David Goffin made ATP Cup history on Friday, becoming the first player to request a video review challenge. While his challenge to overturn a foot-fault call was unsuccessful, the World No. 11 did manage to gain the victory he needed most.

6) Extra Warm Ups = Success: Due to the unpredictable nature of Steve Darcis’ match, Goffin warmed up on three separate occasions for his opening encounter. Once he found his way onto the court, the Belgian defeated Radu Albot 6-4, 6-1 to earn his country an unassailable 2-0 lead.

7) A Home Win: Team Australia made the perfect start to its ATP Cup title bid, defeating Team Germany 3-0. Nick Kyrgios gave the home nation its opening point, before Alex de Minaur recovered from 4-6, 2-4 down to beat Alexander Zverev for the first time in five ATP Head2Head clashes 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-2. Chris Guccione and John Peers completed the tie with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph against Roland Garros champions Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies.

8) Russia Rolling: Karen Khachanov and Daniil Medvedev carried Team Russia to a 3-0 victory against Team Italy in their opening tie at the ATP Cup. Khachanov’s 7-5, 6-3 win against Stefano Travaglia earned Marat Safin’s side a 1-0 lead, before Medvedev doubled Team Russia’s advantage with a 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 triumph against Fabio Fognini. The two stars combined in doubles, beating Simone Bolelli and Paolo Lorenzi 6-4, 6-3.

9) Team Zone Success: Team spirit was on full show on Day 1, as players were seated in designated Team Zones in the corners of the Brisbane, Sydney and Perth’s stadium courts. Players, captains and coaches on received regular support from their team and took advantage of real-time statistics, data, insights and match vision.

10) Doubles Deciders: Occupying the third and final match slot in all ATP Cup ties, there is always a chance of doubles playing a winner-takes-all role at the tournament. In two of six Day 1 ties, the winning country was decided by doubles clashes as Team Norway and Team Bulgaria both triumphed in Match Tie-breaks.

Grigor Dimitrov has delivered in a big way for his country in the early moments of Saturday morning, forcing a deciding doubles match to determine the winner between his Team Bulgaria and Team Great Britain on the first day of the inaugural ATP Cup.

Dimitrov beat Daniel Evans 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 in an entertaining all-court affair that ended at 12:10am local time in Sydney. Bulgaria’s No. 1 singles player and captain could now elect to return to Ken Rosewall Arena for the doubles match.

The eight-time ATP Tour titlist entered his match with Evans with a 2-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead against the Brit, whom he defeated in straight sets in Chengdu last September. But in the early going, the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion struggled to find a rhythm against the slicing and dicing off Evans’ racquet.

However, Dimitrov never dipped his head in his first match of the season, blasting away on the backhand side, creating a highlight reel of one-handed lasers. And after two hours and 16 minutes, Dimitrov earned the victory when Evans mishit a volley.

In the tie’s No. 2 singles match, Cameron Norrie beat Dimitar Kuzmanov 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to give Team Great Britain a 1-0 lead.

Norrie first played Kuzmanov at a Futures event in 2014, losing just two games. The lefty didn’t have it anywhere near as easy Friday evening in Sydney, but he got the job done nonetheless.

“It was a tough match. It’s the first match of the year. So, yeah, I came out playing great. It was a real physical first set, and then literally one little lapse in concentration, and then I was down a break and he actually played solid. I didn’t really have any chances in the second,” Norrie said. “Obviously there were a couple doubts in the second, but no, I was actually real happy with the way I competed and the way I carried myself.”

The difference in the match was Norrie’s success with his swinging lefty serve, helping him win 83 per cent of his first-serve points en route to a two-hour victory. He broke serve six times, including on four occasions in the third set.

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Interestingly Norrie won his lowest rate of first-serve points in the final set (69%), but he improved his return pressure, winning 74 per cent of his return points in the decider.

The 24-year-old Norrie enjoyed the best season of his young career in 2019, breaking into the Top 50 of the FedEx ATP Rankings in March before reaching a career-high No. 41 in May. And with his triumph against Kuzmanov, the Brit appears poised for a fast start once again.

Tennis fans attending the ATP Cup in Brisbane, Perth or Sydney, or tuning in globally to coverage may be struck by the number of breaks with tradition at the 2020 ATP Tour season opener.

One such innovation is Team Zones, positioned in the corners of the three stadium courts, bringing a highly visibly support team to each player, with captain, players and even coaching all working together in support of the star stepping between the lines.

Teams competing across the three Australian cities on Friday welcomed the addition, replacing traditional benches located by the umpire’s chair, and the real-time statistics, data, insights and match vision on offer in the Team Zone.

“In ATP tournaments normally you cannot even communicate with your coach, you’re by yourself and thinking by yourself,” said Karen Khachanov, who looked at real-time statistics with captain Marat Safin when representing Team Russia in Perth. “You’re trying to analyse what’s going on and here you have your whole team behind you, your personal coach, captain. The stats enable you to talk about every point and I think it’s a really good addition.”

John Isner, competing for Team United States at the RAC Arena in Perth, and Felix Auger-Aliassime, who won for Team Canada on Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane on Friday, welcomed the addition of being closer to coaches and team mates.

“I thought it was different walking to the other side of the court, but I liked it,” said Isner. “I think the concept out there is very cool and very unique. I think every player’s enjoying it, I enjoy playing on a team. When you play on a team, it’s awesome when you win and help your team out, but it stinks when you lose.”

“You hear more people behind your back, so it’s a different feeling,” said Auger-Aliassime. “I personally like this feeling. It’s good to have teammates cheering you on and it’s exciting.”

“As soon as they have something or they saw something that they want to share with me, it will could be said straight away,” said David Goffin of Team Belgium. “It’s going to be fun. Also, to have them just really close from the baseline, because it’s in the two corners. So it’s going to be nice.”

For Stefanos Tsitsipas, who is currently No. 6 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, bringing Team Greece to Brisbane for the ATP Cup experience is something positive for his players.

The World No. 6 said: “Surely I cannot picture anything better than this right now. There hasn’t been an event which draws so much attention like the ATP Cup. For me, it’s an extra honour to be sharing the court with and giving the opportunity to my fellow tennis players from the same country and giving me the opportunity to witness this and play in a big stage. The ATP Cup was No. 1 priority for me when it was announced.”

Denis Shapovalov, who beat Tsitsipas in Group F on Friday for Team Canada, said: “It’s just an unbelievable feeling and obviously tournaments like this are just so much fun. And I think for the fans it’s so much more fun as well, because it gets so loud and they really get more into it. So I think it’s great for everyone.”

Team Norway captain Christian Ruud, who helped his son Casper Ruud to save two match points in victory over Isner in Perth on Friday, welcomed the statistical insight, but was cautious about relying on it too much.

“We were looking at mostly where John served, but it’s always difficult with statistics,” said Christian Ruud. “He was serving a lot wide in the Ad court, then served four aces down the T. So we were hoping on big points he was going wide, but then he changes his rhythm. So it’s a little hard to read. But the opponent can also see what Casper is trying to do. It’s a useful tool, but it can also confuse you. Casper got angry with me, because I told him that Isner was serving a lot wide, then he served down the T. So I stopped looking at it for a few games and you have to get the feel for what’s coming. You can’t always look at statistics because you have to play the ball and every ball is different.”

After recording the biggest win of his career, Casper Ruud said: “It was a fun thing to do to try out and credit to the ATP for trying something new out, as tennis has been the same for many years. ATP is trying to make some small, slight chances. It’s not the biggest deal, but it’s nice to have your coach there. You get that team spirit feeling.”

When asked about the atmosphere in the Team Zone, Diego Schwartzman of Team Argentina, said: “It’s very nice, because every single part of the tournament we are enjoying a little bit more, with the players from Argentina, with our coaches. So everything I think has a plus, and it’s very nice for every single player in the team.”

“It’s a great idea,” said Team Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz. “It’s going to be so much fun with all of the players here from Poland, and obviously with a coach being on the side trying to help me. So it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

With World No. 1 Rafael Nadal leading the way, Spain will begin their campaign in the inaugural ATP Cup against Georgia this Saturday in Perth. They have their sights set on reaching the Final Eight in Sydney and emerging victorious in the new team competition, which brings 24 countries together to open the 2020 season on the ATP Tour.

Captained by Francisco Roig, Nadal, Roberto Bautista Agut, Pablo Carreno Busta, Feliciano Lopez and Albert Ramos-Vinolas will initially be bidding to come through Group B, which also includes Japan and Uruguay. In the build-up to Spain’s opener, the players spoke to ATPTour.com about their expectations of the ATP Cup and their chances at victory.

Nadal: We’re talking about a new competition that we’re all really excited about. Being able to share these days with teammates makes it a unique and special situation. We’ve always had a good understanding as a team. It personally makes me happy to start the 2020 season by sharing the ATP Cup with them.

Bautista Agut: It means a lot to me to be with the Spanish team here in Perth. I have dreamed of being in the group since I was little because of the atmosphere and spirit within the team. I think that’s what makes us truly special.

Carreno Busta: For me, being at the ATP Cup is also a good opportunity. But we are Spain and that means that I’m in the same team as the No. 1 and No. 9 in the [ATP Rankings], so there’s not much chance of me playing singles matches. Regarding the competition, I’m going to give my all. Training sessions this week will be essential to find some rhythm for the rest of the season.

Lopez: It’s a good chance for us to prepare well and be able to play in this new event, which will be a very positive thing. Playing in a team is different, but I really like it. [I like] being able to experience everything that happens throughout these days with with teammates I’ve known for many years. Let’s see if we have a little luck and things turn out well.

Bautista Agut: Hopefully we can do something significant this week. The team is ready to play well. Tennis is a very difficult sport, but team tournaments are even more so. That’s why they’re so special.

Nadal: We have to be ready to fight for everything. Our team is complete and if we’re all playing our best, we have a chance to do something significant. We have to work to find our best individual games.

Ramos-Vinolas. I’m very happy to be here, to have the opportunity to play in the ATP Cup with these great players. All of them are great champions. I know that maybe I won’t play many matches, but coming to Perth was a good idea in terms of the opportunity to prepare well for other tournaments. I hope to be able to enjoy the competition from the outside.

Lopez: We all have to be prepared so that if we have the opportunity to compete, we are at 100 per cent and can perform well.

Nadal: At the end of the day, we have to be honest with ourselves. What we have to achieve is for every individual to perform their best. That’s the basic principle of success. Of course, we want the atmosphere to be good, as it almost always has been in recent years. It helps you work with an energy that helps everyone be able to find that extra level we need.

Lopez: The good vibes among the team are fundamental, but Spain has had so much success because of the possible combinations available to us. It’s a blessing and an advantage that few other countries have.

Nadal: You have to keep an eye on the decisions that are made during the competition for doubles, resting… We’re lucky to have Francis here, who has been on the Tour for many years and knows us all very well. That’ll make decisions easier for him, which could be decisive in important moments in terms of our chances for victory.

Roig: It’s an honour to be captain of this team. Each one of them comes here after their pre-season and they are already prepared. As soon as we got to Perth, we tried to get the maximum out of each player. I think the team looks pretty good. I’m confident that we will continue to improve so that we are firing on all cylinders and things go well in the coming days.