The ATP Cup is more than a star-filled competition to kick off the 2020 season. Former Russian stalwarts Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin, who both won the Australian Open and reached No. 1 in the ATP Rankings, believe that immediate success in Australia could shape career-defining seasons for the members of Team Russia.

“It’s very important. The way my year in Australia went was often how the rest of the year went,” Kafelnikov said. “Getting to the final or winning the event could help make their year.”

Team captain Safin looks to help guide Russia past Italy, the United States and Norway in Group D action in Perth. World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev and World No. 17 Karen Khachanov will suit up for singles on the Russian squad that also includes Teymuraz Gabashvili, Ivan Nedelko and Konstantin Kravchuk.

Having prevailed in Melbourne in 2005, Safin knows what it takes to succeed Down Under. He believes that being surrounded by the world’s best players is an ideal way to begin the year and the round- robin format will aid in quickly removing any off-season rust.

“It’s a perfect setup for this event at the beginning of the year. All the guys are already in Australia and they want to start with a good step in the new year,” Safin said. “You are guaranteed three matches and you have two groups playing in the same spot, so you have a chance to practise day and night to get ready for the beginning of the season. To win with your team at the beginning of the year, I think it’s pretty cool.”

All eyes will be on Medvedev, who picked up more tour-level wins (59) than anyone in 2019. The Russian’s magical run in the second half of the year included his first two ATP Masters 1000 titles in Cincinnati (d. Goffin) and Shanghai (d. Zverev), in addition to a maiden crown on home soil at the St. Petersburg Open (d. Coric) and debut Grand Slam final at the US Open (l. to Nadal). His inspired play fittingly led to a debut appearance at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals.

Now that Medvedev has elevated himself to the highest echelon of the sport, Kafelnikov wants to see him stay there. The 1999 Australian Open champion admired Medvedev’s mental fortitude against the world’s best this year and said maintaining it will be essential as he looks to break into the Top 3.

“The confidence level was very good this year. He believed he could beat top players and that’s why he got these results,” Kafelnikov said. “If he can repeat that success next year, he’ll be along that elite row.”

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Kafelnikov is also eager to see Khachanov continue to build on his powerful game. The 23-year-old made his Top 10 debut in July and reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final this year at Roland Garros. But what makes Kafelnikov most excited is that the rising Russian “can still improve his game in all areas”, yet is already capable of beating anyone when he’s in top form.

Kafelnikov and Safin both thrived on representing their country throughout their careers. Kafelnikov earned a gold medal in singles at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Both men know firsthand that team competitions can inspire players to elevate their games and are optimistic that the unique environment of the ATP Cup will help the Russian squad deliver their best tennis.

“We compete on a daily basis just for yourself, so playing for your country is a bit different,” Kafelnikov said. “I always had that spark playing for Russia, so hopefully they have the same when they go out there.”

On 4 January 2010, when the first ATP Rankings of this decade were published, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic topped the list. As this decade comes to a close, Nadal is No. 1, Djokovic is No. 2 and Federer is No. 3. Ten years have come and gone, and the Big Three are still on top. 

The trio has combined to win 183 tour-level titles over the past decade, including 33 Grand Slam championships. So it’s no surprise that they have earned the highest winning percentage of the 2010s.

The surface leaders of the decade won’t shock, either.

Nadal won more tour-level matches on clay than anyone else with 255 victories, lifting 33 trophies on the dirt over the past 10 years. Djokovic ruled the hard courts, tallying 416 triumphs on the surface and Federer paced the ATP Tour with 99 tour-level wins on grass.

Most Tie-Break Wins
John Isner won more tie-breaks in the past decade than anyone, and it wasn’t particularly close. The American won 376 tie-breaks, with his closest rival, Ivo Karlovic, emerging victorious 228 times.

Isner hit the most aces this decade with 10,619, which is more than all but three other players in history have struck in their careers (Karlovic, Federer, Ivanisevic). Karlovic was second on the list with 7,804.

Service Games Won
Karlovic began the 2010s at 30 years old, and as we near 2020, the Croat is still going strong at 40. The World No. 95 led the ATP Tour in rate of service games won at 92.5 per cent over the past 10 years, with Isner right behind at 92.2 per cent.

Return Games Won
Nadal and Djokovic dominated on return over the past decade, winning a higher rate of return games than anyone else on the ATP Tour. They also proved clutch with their break point chances. The Spaniard converted 45.2 per cent of his opportunities, while the Serbian took advantage of 44.7 per cent of his break points.

Most Match Points Saved
In the past decade, the most match points a player has saved before going on to win the match is 10. Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller did so at the 2016 Fever-Tree Championships, defeating John Isner 3-6, 7-6(16), 7-6(7).

Weeks At World No. 1
Two players reached No. 1 in the ATP Rankings for the first time this decade — Djokovic and Andy Murray. Djokovic would finish atop the year-end standings five times, the most of any player during the 2010s.

The Serbian held top spot over the past 10 years for 28 weeks longer than the rest of the Big Four combined.

Did You Know?
Only one player finished inside the Top 10 of the year-end ATP Rankings every year from 2010-19: Rafael Nadal.

Fans counting down the days to the inaugural ATP Cup beginning 3 January can get a jumpstart on the excitement with today’s launch of the ATP Cup Bracket Challenge Game.

FanHub, a global leader of digital gaming platforms, developed the game with ATP to increase engagement and awareness of the 24-country event played in three Australian cities that will kickstart the 2020 ATP Tour season.

Sign Up to play ATP Cup Bracket Challenge at ATPTour.com

Fans will be tasked with picking the six group winners and two best second-place teams who will advance to the Final Eight in Sydney, when the tournament switches from group play to a knockout format. From there, fans will pick winners from the quarter-finals semi-finals and final.

Picks must be made before the tournament begins but can be modified during the 10-day event. Correct unchanged picks made before the tournament earn more points in the game than picks made once the tournament is underway.

ATP Cup, featuring the likes of World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Dominic Thiem, will be held 3-12 January in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney, with the Final Eight played exclusively in Sydney.

“We have always enjoyed the best in class work provided by FanHub, and we believe that this new project will help us elevate the ATP Cup and enhance the fan engagement around our major season launch event to a new level through casual gaming,” said Ross Hutchins, Managing Director, ATP Cup. “While our core fans will enjoy the competition, the ability to gamify the event leads us to a bigger goal, which is having casual fans more engaged, and this will be a solid step in helping reach that point.”

“Tennis has long been one of the sports where fans have enjoyed competitive gaming and being able to work with the ATP in building this bracket challenge will be a great way to expose this unique, first-time event to a global audience,” said Andrew Cronyn, Managing Director FanHub. “The free to play game enables the ATP to engage with fans throughout the tournament, giving them a reason to keep coming back to ATP’s digital platform and bringing the sport of tennis to the forefront.”

Another captivating decade of tennis has come and gone. And perhaps fittingly, the three players who began the decade in the top three spots of the ATP Rankings — Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer — finish the 2010s in the top three places.

Continuing our Best of the Decade series, ATPTour.com looks at some of the biggest records and achievements from the past 10 years.

Rafael Nadal

Roger Federer

Andy Murray

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut

Milestones Reached During The Past Decade

Did You Know?

Diego Schwartzman and Guido Pella see each other every day in the off-season. But they are much more than just training partners making their joint preparations for 2020. The top two Argentine players in the ATP Rankings enjoy a friendship that goes back to the early days of their tennis dreams.

They will now kick off their respective seasons by leading Argentina in the inaugural ATP Cup. Schwartzman and Pella seek to guide Argentina past Austria, Croatia and Poland in Group E action in Sydney. Juan Ignacio Londero, Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni will complete the team.

“There are some very tough opponents in our group like Dominic Thiem, who I will have to play, and Borna Coric. I’m going to have to be ready to play and compete against them right at the start of the year,” Schwartzman said.

Schwartzman prevailed this August in Los Cabos. (d. Fritz) and followed up with his first US Open quarter-final showing. The 27-year-old also finished runner up in Vienna (l. to Thiem) and Buenos Aires (l. to Cecchinato), in addition to reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final in Rome.

“[My main focus is] to take it day by day. In anything you’re doing, the most important thing is for it not to be tedious. It’s a daily mental challenge to be able to continue competing as well as possible,” Schwartzman said. “Now we have to adapt. It’s partly in teams, there are [ATP Rankings] points available and there’s a lot of prize money.

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“Knowing that there are some very big points on offer and that you are representing Argentina is a bonus… Not just playing for yourself. It’s a competition that’s going to be very good. I have no doubt.”

Schwartzman selected former World No. 5 and 2004 Roland Garros champion Gaston Gaudio to be the team captain for Argentina. However, he said it was a decision that the entire team approved of.

“We chose him between all of us,” Schwartzman explained. “We thought he was the most logical choice because it’s difficult if I choose my coach for him to also be the captain of the other players. Gaston is a good choice for everyone.”

Pella looks to continue his momentum after completing a career-best season in 2019 that saw him finish inside the Top 25. He won his maiden ATP Tour crown in Sao Paulo (d. Garin), finished runner-up in Cordoba (l. to Londero) and advanced to his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Wimbledon. He’s eager to compete alongside Schwartzman and believes they can make an impact in Sydney.

“Competing in a team at the start of the year is going to be a beautiful experience and I’m happy to be able to play for Argentina with my teammates,” Pella said. “Everyone knows Diego. He has one of the best backhands on tour and he is extremely solid. There are not many like him on Tour and he has a consistency that few can match. That’s why he’s been in the Top 30 for three years.”

Pella spoke of his own plans for 2020 and said he has one clear goal: to stay on the same path.

“I want to keep playing my best tennis, improve my ranking and validate what I did in 2019,” he explained. “To keep performing at good tournaments and beating good opponents would make me happy.”

The 2019 season for Canadians Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime might have been a preview for what tennis fans can expect for the next 10-15 years from the #NextGenATP stars. Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime, who will represent Canada along with Steven Diez, Adil Shamasdin and Peter Polansky at next month’s ATP Cup, spent the year outdoing each other.

Both players endured their highs and lows, but both also played for ATP Tour titles and finished the season inside the Top 25 of the ATP Rankings (Shapovalov, No. 15; Auger-Aliassime, No. 21).

“These two guys really have almost fulfilled every expectation, at this stage to both be where they are,” said Tom Tebbutt, a longtime Canadian tennis writer.

Four years ago, when Auger-Aliassime was 15 and Shapovalov 16, Tebbutt saw the two play for the Canadian 18-and-under boys championship. Since then, and especially in 2019, the two have been on a tear.

In February, Auger-Aliassime, younger then Shapovalov by 16 months, became the youngest ATP 500 finalist in series history (since 2009) by making the Rio Open presented by Claro final (l. to Djere). The next month, Auger-Aliassime, then 18, also became the youngest Miami Open presented by Itau semi-finalist (l. to Isner) in the tournament’s 35-year history.

At that same tournament in south Florida, Shapovalov also reached the semi-finals (l. to Federer), his third at the Masters 1000 level.

But from there, Auger-Aliassime continued climbing while Shapovalov endured a slump. Auger-Aliassime made the final in Lyon (clay, l. to Paire) and Stuttgart (grass, l. to Berrettini) and reached the third round at Wimbledon (l. to Humbert), the first time he had won a match at a major championship.

“For any player to get his first Grand Slam win is a big relief, and it’s a good achievement for me. At the same time, with the level I’m playing now and my ambitions, I look forward and I look to go even further than that,” Auger-Aliassime said.

Shapovalov, meanwhile, went 2-9 after Miami, which included a straight-sets loss to Auger-Aliassime in Madrid. The left-hander began to turn his season around at his home Masters 1000 event in Montreal, where Shapovalov beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France and pushed Dominic Thiem to three sets.

“It put a smile to my face when I walked back on the court,” Shapovalov said. “Every point, [the crowd is] so engaged. Like I’ve always said, I feel that brings the best out of me. I’m able to play more freely and just enjoy myself. I had that fire back today that I’ve been missing, especially the last couple weeks. Maybe it’s been longer than that. It’s good to get back on the right track.”

Two weeks later, he made the semi-finals in Winston-Salem, and the next week, he and Auger-Aliassime met in the first round of the US Open for the second consecutive year. Shapovalov, who won their first New York contest, beat Auger-Aliassime in straight sets.

“Denis played really, really well against him at the US Open,” Tebbutt said.

From there, Shapovalov kept rising, making the semi-finals in Chengdu and winning his maiden title in Stockholm. The Canadian saved his best for the final week of the ATP regular season, reaching his first Masters 1000 final at the Rolex Paris Masters (l. to Djokovic).

Auger-Aliassime, on the other hand, went 2-3 during the Asian swing and a sprained ankle limited his play in the final month.

At the moment, Shapovalov has surged ahead. But, as Tebbutt has seen over the years, good luck predicting who will finish higher after the 2020 season, which starts at the inaugural ATP Cup. Canada will compete in Group F in Brisbane against Germany, Greece and Australia.

The Ruud family has been putting Norwegian tennis on the global map for the past 30 years, and they’ll have their biggest opportunity yet next month at the inaugural ATP Cup, to be held 3-12 January in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney.

Casper Ruud, No. 54 in the ATP Rankings, will lead the team, and his father/coach Christian Ruud, who reached No. 39 in the ATP Rankings before retiring in 2001, will captain the team, which will face Russia, Italy and the U.S. in Group D in Perth.

The Ruuds, who will be joined by Norwegian players Viktor Durasovic, Lukas Hellum Lilleengen, Leyton Rivera and Herman Hoeyeraal, spoke to ATPTour.com about competing at next month’s ATP Cup, what it’s like to be a travelling father-son duo on the ATP Tour and how they’ve brought recognition to tennis in Norway.

Casper Ruud
On being from Norway
“It’s a little bit tough sometimes to be from a small tennis country like Norway because you don’t have too many people to practise with when you’re home and that kind of stuff. I think many people many times don’t quite understand where I’m from, because Norway is not a typical tennis country and they’re maybe thinking, ‘Norway, where is that?’

“But if I had to choose things, I would like them to think that I of course play well, and I’m a nice guy, likable. That’s my goal and why I try to stay humble all the time and try to work hard and hopefully the results will come and as the results come, more fans will eventually come.”

On growing tennis in Norway
“I’m trying, definitely. It’s one of my goals, to try to make Norway a bigger tennis country. We’ve been talking a little bit if I have a big career, we can maybe try to bring an ATP event to Norway. That would be a huge goal for me in my career, to try to do that. In Sweden, they have two events. That would be nice for Norway and Norwegian tennis.”

On being a part of the #NextGenATP, competing at the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals
“I’m not going to say that I feel old, but there are younger players that are doing better than me. It’s something to perhaps gain motivation from.

“I’m a couple of steps behind them now, but I’ve built a good base this year and will hopefully be ready for an even better season next year.”

On having his father as a coach
“I know that he cares about me and he wants everything in the best way for me. So, of course, he’s been a really big part of my success and my team, ever since I was little.

“I’m from a small tennis country, and I don’t have too many people to look up to in my home country, except for him. He’s the only one who knows how it’s been and how the life on the Tour is. I think it’s been a huge advantage, even though I’m from Norway, to have my father so close to me and helping me with my tennis.”

How his dad especially helped him when he was a teenager
“He’s always been there for me and tried to guide me… When you’re 13 or 14, it’s easy to think about other things or want to go out to parties. My dad was strict with me in those ways because he knew you have to be serious from a young age if you want to be a professional tennis player. There were some sacrifices, but it’s paid off.”

Christian Ruud
On Casper choosing tennis
“He was the one that decided at age 11, ‘OK, this is what I want to do. I’m more into individual sports than team sports.’ Since then it’s just been about the tennis.”

On separating the father-coach roles
“Maybe when he’s younger [it was harder], but now he’s a grown-up. I feel more like a coach and also a friend now because we travel and go out to dinners together. It’s not like I’m babysitting him.

“We have a good relationship. He respects that I was a player on Tour and respects me as a coach. He was the one [who] wanted me to be his coach when his other coach quit 18 months ago. I’m just trying to help him be a good player and a good person.”

On his son’s 2019 season
“I think his lowest level has come up a lot. He’s been playing a lot better at ATP events and winning a lot more matches and also beating decent players when he’s not been playing his best, so I think his high level has increased as well as his low level.”

Doubles Team Titles Leaders (2010-2019)

Americans Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan won 63 titles over the past 10 years, including 46 between 2010-2014, when they were year-end No. 1s. Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, who contested the first of their 33 tour-level finals in May 2013 (at Nice), ended the decade on a high with five trophies in 2019.

Record-Breaking Twins

• The Bryan brothers led the team game and compiled record numbers, including five straight year-end No. 1 finishes (2010-2014). They will contest their final season as a team in 2020.

• The American twins went 63-21 in tour-level finals between 2010-2019, which included winning nine Grand Slam men’s doubles championships and 26 of their record-breaking 39 ATP Masters 1000 crowns. At Los Angeles, in July 2010, the pair captured their 62nd team crown to break a tie with Open Era titles record-holders Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde (61). Additionally, in September 2012 at the US Open, the Bryans passed the Australian team with their 12th major team title.

• Between the 2012 US Open and 2013 Wimbledon, the Bryans were the holders of all four majors simultaneously in a non-calendar year and 2013 — when they won the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon crowns — marking the first time since Anders Jarryd and John Fitzgerald in 1991 (Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open) that a team had held three major titles.

• In 2013, the Bryans won 22 matches at the four major championships, clinching year-end No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Team Rankings for a ninth time as early as 19 August (a record). They earned 11 titles from 14 finals — including three majors and five Masters 1000s.

• During a record 139 consecutive weeks at No. 1, between 25 February 2013 and 25 October 2015, the Bryans won four consecutive ATP Masters 1000 titles in consecutive seasons (2013 and 2014), highlighted by clinching silverware in six of their seven Masters 1000 final appearances in 2014.

• During that historic year, the Bryans won a 16th major team crown, and a record fifth US Open title, which also marked their 100th trophy together. In March, they became only the fourth team to complete the Indian Wells-Miami title double, following in the footsteps of Woodbridge and Woodforde (1996), Wayne Black and Sandon Stolle (1999), and Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor (2002), and, later, in October, at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, the Bryans became the first team to complete the Career Golden Masters of all nine Masters 1000 trophies.
• In October 2016 at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, the Bryans became the first doubles team in the Open Era to reach the 1,000 match wins milestones.

Records of Year-End No. 1 Teams (2010-2019)

Take a closer look at the match and finals records (by season) of year-end No. 1 doubles teams between 2010 and 2019.

Nestor First To Record 1,000 Doubles Match Wins

• Daniel Nestor, who turned pro in 1991 and said farewell to the sport in 2018, became the first player in the Open Era to record 1,000 doubles match wins on 11 January 2016, when he partnered Marcelo Melo to reach the Sydney quarter-finals.
• Six months later in Nottingham, as the proud owner of his 89th career title, the Canadian also extended his record of winning at least one tour-level title for 23 consecutive years.

Paes, Herbert/Mahut Complete Career Grand Slam

• Over the past decade, three players completed the career doubles Grand Slam. India’s Leander Paes, was the first to do so since Nestor in 2008, when the Indian partnered Radek Stepanek to the 2012 Australian Open title. Paes also became the sixth player to record 750 match wins or more on 7 April 2018. Paes will retire from professional tennis in 2020.
• Seven years later, at the same championship, Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut became the eighth team in the sport’s history — and the first pair since the Bryan brothers in 2006 — to capture all four major titles.
• Twenty three players have won the career doubles Grand Slam since Australia’s Adrian Quist in 1939.

Perfect Weeks At Nitto ATP Finals

• Two teams over the past 10 seasons swept to the Nitto ATP Finals title without the loss of a set in five matches at The O2 in London. Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, clinched year-end No. 1 en route to the 2015 crown, while last month Herbert and Mahut capped a memorable season with the crown.

• Max Mirnyi and Nestor (2011), Henri Kontinen and John Peers (2016) and Mike Bryan and Jack Sock (2018) also completed their title-winning weeks with 5-0 records. Mirnyi retired from professional tennis in 2018 with 780 match wins and 52 doubles crowns.

Australian No. 1 Alex de Minaur has had the first glimpse of the silverware for the newest tournament in world tennis, the ATP Cup.

The magnificent silver trophy was unveiled at Kangaroo Point in Brisbane by ATP Cup Tournament Director Tom Larner, marking 13 days until the inaugural event begins from 3 to 12 January 2020.

The bespoke ATP Cup design is both a tribute to tennis’ past and a celebration of its future.

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The traditional shape is a nod to the history of the sport, with the contemporary shard construction symbolic of the innovative new format of the ATP Cup.

“The ATP Cup will showcase the top male players from 24 countries and this is the trophy they’ll be playing for,” Tom Larner said.

“Players have embraced this new team competition and we can’t think of a better way to kick start both the global tennis season and the Australian summer.”

De Minaur, who will represent Australia alongside Nick Kyrgios, John Millman, John Peers, Chris Guccione and captain Lleyton Hewitt, said he was looking forward to competing at the first edition of the ATP Cup.

“The Aussies are pumped to be starting the season in Brisbane and standing here in front of the ATP Cup, seeing the trophy up close for the first time, really brings to life what we are playing for in just a couple of weeks’ time,” he said.

Made from sterling silver, the stunning symmetrical design of the ATP Cup consists of 24 shards, with each representing one of the 24 countries in competition. The shards support a silver stem adorned with a hand-blown glass silver sphere, replicating both a traditional tennis ball and the hemisphere logo of the event.

The trophy’s base is handcrafted from native Banksia hardwood and is finished with a silver plaque, which awaits the engraving of the first ATP Cup champion team.

The ATP Cup has been designed and handcrafted by industry leaders in precious metals, ABC Bullion, who also craft the Australian Open men’s singles trophy, the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup, and the Melbourne Cup.

“With Australia hosting the inaugural ATP Cup it is only appropriate the trophy is made in Australia and from Australian silver,” Darren May of ABC Bullion said.

“It has been a true team effort to produce this team’s trophy in Australia – from the local miners, to the designers, fabricators and refinery workers.”

ABC Bullion is also the proud manufacturer of the runner up plate and medallions for the Final Eight.

The ATP Cup will tour the country, travelling to Perth next before heading to Sydney.

ATP Cup – trophy fast facts

• Made in Australia from locally sourced materials
• Contains more than six kilograms of silver, hand-blown glass and native banksia hardwood
• A team of six have dedicated more than 320 hours to designing and producing the ATP Cup
• Stands 50 centimetres tall
• As well as the ATP Cup, ABC Bullion are responsible for producing the Australian Open men’s singles trophy, the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup and the Melbourne Cup