Felix, Stefanos Sharpen Games As ATP Cup Draws Near
With just three days to go before ATP Cup kicks off the 2022 ATP Tour season, Top 10 stars Felix Auger-Aliassime and Stefanos Tsitsipas honed their games on the practice courts at Sydney Olympic Park Wednesday.
Auger-Aliassime leads Canada in Group C, where the 21-year-old will face No. 1 singles clashes with Alexander Zverev, Cameron Norrie and Taylor Fritz.
In his first practise at this year’s event, Tsitsipas worked out under the watchful eye of his father and team captain Apostolos. The World No. 4 spearheads Greece in Group C and is scheduled to meet Hubert Hurkacz, Diego Schwartzman and Nikoloz Basilashvili in group play.
World No. 3 Alexander Zverev practised with his singles teammate Jan-Lennard Struff on an outer court under the gaze of team captain Michael Kohlmann. Zverev, who finished 2021 by winning his second Nitto ATP Finals title, will be determined to improve his disappointing 1-5 match record in the first two years of the tournament.
Struff has returned winning records in the first two editions of the event, boasting a 4-2 match tally, including wins over Auger-Aliassime in 2020 and Milos Raonic in 2021.
Top 10 Italians Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner practised together in cool to mild conditions in Sydney as they work on claiming revenge for their defeat in the 2021 final to Russia. The teams will meet in a blockbuster Group B showdown on the final day of group play on 6 January.
Running 1-9 January, ATP Cup will be staged in the first week of the 2022 ATP Tour season alongside ATP 250 events in Adelaide and Melbourne. The 2022 tournament will feature a 16-team field in four groups and be hosted across two venues in Sydney – Ken Rosewall Arena and the Qudos Bank Arena – both at Sydney Olympic Park. The four group winners will contest the knockout stage – to be played exclusively at Ken Rosewall Arena – from 7 January.