The members of Team Serbia and Team Russia are thousands of kilometres from their homes as they compete in Sydney at the ATP Cup. But after the Serbian squad experienced full-throated fan support throughout their quarter-final victory over Canada, they said it felt like they were playing at home. They’ll look to use the vocal crowd in Ken Rosewall Arena to their advantage when both teams meet on Saturday for their semi-final clash.

On paper, there’s little separating the two powerhouse lineups. Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov are undefeated in singles for Russia, while Novak Djokovic matched that effort for Serbia and Dusan Lajovic is 3-1 in singles play. Each country also sports a 3-1 record in doubles. With both teams in top form, the Serbians hope that fan support can provide the slight edge that pushes them into the title match.

“When you have most of the stadium backing you up after every point, it makes a significant difference in terms of how you feel on the court,” Djokovic said. “Of course, you’re focussing on your game and what needs to be done tactically, but at the same time, you’re playing in a stadium. If the majority of the stadium is backing you up, it’s easier. You find that strength. You find that motivation.

“When you’re down, they lift you up. You feel more alert, more responsible because so many people are backing you up and supporting you that you have to deliver your best game. You want to play in this kind of atmosphere all the time, but it’s not always possible. That’s why I try to cherish these kind of moments and take them with me anywhere I go.”

A blockbuster battle in the No. 1 singles match will see Djokovic take on Medvedev. Djokovic leads their head-to-head 3-2, including a four-set victory in last year’s Australian Open. But Medvedev has prevailed in their past two matches and picked up where he left off last season, which saw him finish the year with a Tour-leading 59 match wins.

“I like to play Novak. The matches with him are something special,” Medvedev said. “He’s one of the three best players in history, so of course it was great to beat him a few times, but every match is a new one. Every match is so tough with him and that’s how you progress, so I like to play against these top players.”

The No. 2 singles match features Khachanov squaring off with Lajovic. The Serbian holds a 2-0 record over Khachanov, but this will be their first meeting on hard courts. Lajovic found a new gear during his victory on Friday against #NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime and said the vocal Sydney fans have fueled him to deliver his best tennis.

“The energy that they bring is unique. If you look at the overall season, there is not one place where you have as many Serbians as here because we don’t have any tournaments in Serbia,” Lajovic said. “When you have them in stadiums, it’s usually the minority of the fans, and here they are the majority. I think that this feeling cannot get old. The more they pump you up, the more energy you feel. Just thinking about it, I can get the goosebumps now. I think it really helps us a lot here in the ATP Cup.”

Should the tie come down to doubles, Serbia will likely elect Djokovic and Viktor Troicki. The pair won their winner-takes-all match in Brisbane against last year’s Wimbledon finalists Nicolas Mahut/Edouard Roger-Vasselin (France). Khachanov/Medvedev went 1-1 in Group F play and Teymuraz Gabashvili/Konstantin Kravchuk have won both of their matches at this event without dropping a set, but Russia has yet to play a live doubles match.

Team Serbia captain Nenad Zimonjic said he hasn’t decided on a doubles pairing yet. But if Djokovic and Lajovic bring their current form, he’s optimistic that they can get the job done in singles.

“The Russian team is extremely tough. I would say that they have two really strong players, but also having Novak on [our] team and then Dusan in high form, I think everything is possible there,” Zimonjic said. “We’ll see how it goes after singles, but I think in both matches, we can win both of those.”

Each week on the ATP Tour, players prepare for their matches with their personal coaches. But the ATP Cup is a team competition, and World No. 2 Novak Djokovic revealed how having the ability to huddle up with countrymen makes the tournament different.

“We do get together and speak in the hotel before our matches every day, and each one of us shares his thoughts on maybe the opponent that he’s going to have or for the other guys’ match or doubles or whatever it is,” said Djokovic. “It’s quite, I think, open in terms of everyone really having an opportunity to share what they feel like, maybe some advice or things that they have noticed, their observations.”

One of the positives that Djokovic noted about the ATP Cup is that each country’s Team Zone is right on the court, so he could interact with his fellow Serbians throughout the match. While Nenad Zimonjic is the Serbian captain, every player could share their thoughts with whoever is playing. On Friday, Viktor Troicki was doing just that for Djokovic.

“They are literally behind you,” Djokovic said. “So you get to interact and talk and ask them about things that they see that you can’t really see, what you’re doing right or wrong or what the opponent and the other player on the court is doing.”

The group element could present the potential for too much information. So while Djokovic said that he and his teammates happily swap ideas about an opponent, they don’t go overboard.

“Everyone is slightly different, so you don’t want to interfere with someone’s routine,” Djokovic said. “Someone likes to talk more, someone likes to talk less, someone doesn’t like to talk at all. So we all respect each other’s trajectories in a way in preparation, and so far it’s been working well.”

Most players remaining in Sydney have their personal coaches with them. So while former World No. 1 Marat Safin says that he does not overstep, he is happy to give his opinion to those coaches to get on the same page and potentially deliver those messages to the players.

“We match with the coaches. We are talking about same things,” Safin said. “But they might say [it] with the different words. So it can get closer to the center of attention in some moments. Mainly it’s the same things. It might be fresh words”.

Serbian Novak Djokovic and Australian Alex de Minaur have enjoyed a memorable start to 2020, battling to clinch their countries’ spots in the semi-finals at the ATP Cup. Next week, the pair will headline the field at another inaugural tournament, the Adelaide International.

World No. 2 Djokovic has enjoyed plenty of success in Australia. Last season, he became the first man to win seven titles at the season’s first major. Djokovic also visited Adelaide 13 years ago for the Next Generation Adelaide International, held through 2008, and claimed his third of 77 tour-level titles with a victory over Chris Guccione in the final.

The 20-year-old De Minaur enters Adelaide as Australia’s No. 1 player, climbing to a career-high No. 18 FedEx ATP Ranking after winning three ATP Tour titles in 2019. He celebrated his maiden title last January on the eve of the Australian Open at his hometown tournament, the Sydney International.

The combined ATP and WTA tournament will also feature #NextGenATP star Felix Auger-Aliassime, 22-year-olds Andrey Rublev and Taylor Fritz, and Great Britain’s Daniel Evans, who won an epic match against De Minaur in the ATP Cup quarter-finals after three hours and 24 minutes.

Here’s all you need to know about the Adelaide tennis tournament: when is the draw, what is the schedule, where to watch, how to buy tickets and more. 

Established: 2020

Tournament Dates: 12-18 January 2020

Tournament Director: Alistair MacDonald

Draw Ceremony: Saturday, 11 January at 9am

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Schedule (View On Official Website)
* Qualifying: Saturday at 10:00am and Sunday at 12:00pm
* Main draw: Sunday and Monday at 12:00pm, Tuesday at 12:00pm and 7:00pm, Wednesday – Friday at 1:00pm and 7:00pm
* Doubles final: Saturday, 18 January at 3:00pm
* Singles final: Saturday, 18 January at 7:00pm

How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV  
TV Schedule

Venue: Memorial Drive Tennis Club
Main Court Seating: 5,000

Prize Money: US $546,355 (Total Financial Commitment: US $610,010) 

Tickets On Sale: Buy now at bit.ly/AI2020Tickets

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

Social
Hashtag: #AdelaideTennis
Facebook: @AdelaideInternationalTennis
Twitter: @AdelaideTennis
Instagram: @adelaideinternational

Did You Know… The Adelaide International Rally for Resilience, held on 12 January, will raise funds for bushfire relief in South Australia. “The night will feature support from the WTA and ATP Tours, Tennis Australia, Tennis SA, the Roger Rasheed Sports Foundation and Australian Tennis Foundation and the players to raise money to help those communities affected,” said Tournament Director Alistair MacDonald. “We encourage South Australians to get behind this initiative and we will continue to support the Aces for Bushfire Relief program operating throughout the summer of tennis.”

The @AdelaideTennis Rally for Resilience, set to take place on Sunday 12 January, will now raise funds for bushfire relief in South Australia. #Aces4BushfireRelief #Rally4Resilience #AdelaideTennis @Corey_Wingard @roger_rasheed @MacDonald_Ali https://t.co/6Uj83p6vJE

— Adelaide International (@AdelaideTennis) January 9, 2020

Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov have been unbeatable to start the 2020 ATP Tour season, going a combined 8-0 in singles action at the inaugural ATP Cup to carry Team Russia into the semi-finals. The two 23-year-olds, who will go up against either Team Serbia or Team Canada on Friday for a place in the final, will look to continue their success next week at the ASB Classic in Auckland. 

World No. 5 Medvedev is set to be the top seed in his first appearance at this ATP 250 tournament. Khachanov returns for the third time, and reached the quarter-finals on his most recent visit in 2018 (l. to Del Potro).

The 2020 field includes three other Top 20 players: Italian Fabio Fognini, Canada’s Denis Shapovalov and American John Isner, a two-time champion in Auckland (2010, 2014). Hubert Hurkacz, who went 3-0 for Team Poland with wins over Dominic Thiem, Borna Coric and Diego Schwartzman at the ATP Cup, will look to maintain his perfect start to the season.

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

Established: 1956

Tournament Dates: 13-18 January 2020

Tournament Director: Karl Budge

Draw Ceremony: Saturday, 11 January at 12pm

Are You In? Subscribe To Get Tournament Updates In Your Inbox

Schedule (View On Official Website)
* Qualifying: Saturday and Sunday at 11am
* Main draw: Monday – Thursday at 12:30pm and 7:00pm, Friday at 3:30pm
* Doubles final: Saturday, 18 January at 12:30pm
* Singles final: Saturday, 18 January not before 2:30pm

How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV  
TV Schedule

Venue: ASB Tennis Arena
Main Court Seating: 3,500

Prize Money: US $546,355 (Total Financial Commitment: US $610,010) 

Tickets On Sale: Buy now at ASBClassic.co.nz/tickets

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

Honour Roll (Open Era)
Most Titles, Singles: David Ferrer (4)
Most Titles, Doubles: Patrick Galbraith, Chris Lewis (4)
Oldest Champion: John Alexander, 31, in 1983
Youngest Champion: Bjorn Borg, 17, in 1974

2018 Finals
Singles: Tennys Sandgren (USA) d [WC] Cameron Norrie (GBR) 64 62   Read More
Doubles: Ben McLachlan (JPN) / Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) d [3] Raven Klaasen (RSA) / Michael Venus (NZL) 63 64  Read More

Social
Hashtag: #ASBClassic
Facebook: @asbclassic
Twitter: @ASB_Classic
Instagram: @asbclassic

Dusan Lajovic gave Serbia a 1-0 lead against Canada in the Final Eight of the inaugural ATP Cup on Friday, defeating #NextGenATP star Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 40 minutes.

There were dozens of Serbian flags flying throughout Ken Rosewall Arena, with a large Serbian contingent backing its man in the first match of the day. The fans were loud in their support of the World No. 34, who dominated rallies of eight shots or less 66-49, mostly by playing more consistent tennis. 

Auger-Aliassime was not firing at his best against the Serbian, spraying his forehand at key moments. The Canadian made 32 unforced errors.

Lajovic, who went 2-1 in Group A play in Brisbane, gives World No. 2 Novak Djokovic a chance to send their country into the semi-finals when he faces Denis Shapovalov in a rematch of the 2019 Rolex Paris Masters final.

Djokovic leads Shapovalov 4-0 in their ATP Head2Head series. But one thing Shapovalov has going for him is that the only country in which he has taken a set off Djokovic is Australia, doing so at last year’s Australian Open. Djokovic has won nine of the pair’s 10 sets by a margin of 6-4 or greater.

#NextGenATP star Miomir Kecmanovic secured his place in the semi-finals of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open before rain washed out the remainder of play on Thursday in Doha. Kecmanovic raced to 6-2, 6-0 win over Hungarian qualifier Marton Fucsovics in 56 minutes. 

“It was pretty good timing. Good thing that I was able to finish before this happened,” said Kecmanovic. “I’m feeling good. I’m playing good. Hopefully I can keep it up.”

The 20-year-old Serbian has yet to drop a set this week, including a second-round win over 2012 Doha champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Wednesday. Kecmanovic, who finished 2019 with a semi-final run at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan (l. to Sinner), said his off-season training in Dubai with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Karen Khachanov has already made a difference. 

“It was definitely a good group of guys to practise with,” he said. “And I definitely think I’ve maybe sped up my game a little bit because they take time away for you so much. I think I’ve kind of got a little bit used to it and maybe it’s now a little bit easier to play against some of the other guys.

“But it’s definitely something I still have to work on and definitely something that will, if I can, let’s say perfect or let’s say be my normal game, that I could take it far if that happens.”

Kecmanovic awaits the winner between second-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev and Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who will resume their quarter-final match on Friday. Kecmanovic prevailed against Herbert in a third-set tie-break last year at the Citi Open, but has never faced the 22-year-old Rublev at the tour level.

“I played him a long time ago in juniors, but I haven’t played him since then,” he said. “It would definitely be an exciting match, but he still has to win tomorrow…. I’m definitely looking forward to coming out again and to playing my best game.”

ORDER OF PLAY – FRIDAY, 10 JANUARY 2020

CENTER COURT start 1:00 pm
[Q] C. Moutet (FRA) vs F. Verdasco (ESP) 
[1] S. Wawrinka (SUI) vs A. Bedene (SLO) 00
M. Kecmanovic (SRB) vs P. Herbert (FRA) or [2] A. Rublev (RUS) 
[1] S. Wawrinka (SUI) or A. Bedene (SLO) vs [Q] C. Moutet (FRA) or F. Verdasco (ESP) 

COURT 1 start 12:30 pm
P. Herbert (FRA) vs [2] A. Rublev (RUS) 11
Possible Court Change – F. Nielsen (DEN) / T. Puetz (GER) or L. Bambridge (GBR) / S. Gonzalez (MEX) vs [3] R. Bopanna (IND) / W. Koolhof (NED) or [2] H. Kontinen (FIN) / F. Skugor (CRO) 
COURT 2 start 12:30 pm
F. Nielsen (DEN) / T. Puetz (GER) vs L. Bambridge (GBR) / S. Gonzalez (MEX) 62 02

COURT 3 start 12:30 pm
[3] R. Bopanna (IND) / W. Koolhof (NED) vs [2] H. Kontinen (FIN) / F. Skugor (CRO) 00

Kevin Anderson was presented with his Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award from the 2019 ATP Awards on Wednesday in Brisbane during the ATP Cup ahead of South Africa’s tie against France.

“It means a lot. Obviously we spend a lot of time out here on the court and it’s very competitive, but I think it’s really important to try to give back as much as you can and fortunately as my career has gone on I feel I’ve been able to create a bit of a platform and I’ve tried to use that time as much as I can to give back,” Anderson told the crowd. “I couldn’t do this without my wife [Kelsey] as well. She’s been instrumental and we share the same vision. Hopefully as the years go by we’ll be able to increase our efforts off the court.”

Anderson also received a 2020 ATP ACES For Charity grant worth $/€15,000 to support First Serve, for which he is an ambassador. Headquartered in South Florida, First Serve is an after-school program that serves children from impoverished and high-crime areas, with the goal of engaging, educating and empowering students and helping develop them into leaders in their communities.

“I think we can all do better. I certainly challenge myself every day. There are a lot of great causes you can get involved with,” Anderson said. “I just try to do better each and every single day.”