Kei Nishikori is adding another ATP Tour legend to his coaching team. The 29-year-old Japanese has signed on former doubles World No. 1 Max Mirnyi to join Michael Chang as his coaches for the upcoming season.

“Excited to announce that Max Mirnyi will join the coaching team (with Michael Chang) full-time in 2020! Excited what the future holds,” Nishikori said in a statement on his Instagram account.

Mirnyi, affectionately known as “The Beast”, concluded his 22-year ATP Tour career at the end of last season. He spent 57 weeks at the top of the ATP Doubles Rankings (15th all-time) and won 52 tour-level doubles titles, including six Grand Slam crowns. Mirnyi also earned a gold medal in mixed doubles at the 2012 London Olympics (w/Azarenka). In singles, he peaked at No. 18 in the ATP Rankings in 2003 and won an ATP Tour singles title that year in Rotterdam (d. Sluiter). Mirnyi also reached the 2002 US Open quarter-finals.

”I am excited about the opportunity to have a chance and help Kei,” Mirnyi said. “I have known Kei for a long time from the days of my active playing career. Training and spending a lot of time at the IMG Academy in Bradenton. So, I hope that this progression will be natural for both of us personally and on a professional level.”

Nishikori has not competed since this year’s US Open due to a right elbow injury, which he underwent surgery for in October. He finished this season with a 29-14 record, including a title in Brisbane (d. Medvedev) and quarter-final showings at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

Nishikori will kick off next year by representing Japan in the inaugural ATP Cup, held from 3-12 January in Australia. He will join Yoshihito Nishioka, Yasutaka Uchiyama, Go Soeda and Ben McLachlan from 3-8 January in Perth, where they will face Spain, Georgia and Uruguay in Group B. Should they advance from their round-robin group, they will held to Sydney from 9-12 January as part of the Final Eight.

Kei Nishikori is adding another ATP Tour legend to his coaching team. The 29-year-old Japanese has signed on former doubles World No. 1 Max Mirnyi to join Michael Chang as his coaches for the upcoming season.

“Excited to announce that Max Mirnyi will join the coaching team (with Michael Chang) full-time in 2020! Excited what the future holds,” Nishikori said in a statement on his Instagram account.

Mirnyi, affectionately known as “The Beast”, concluded his 22-year ATP Tour career at the end of last season. He spent 57 weeks at the top of the ATP Doubles Rankings (15th all-time) and won 52 tour-level doubles titles, including six Grand Slam crowns. Mirnyi also earned a gold medal in mixed doubles at the 2012 London Olympics (w/Azarenka). In singles, he peaked at No. 18 in the ATP Rankings in 2003 and won his lone ATP Tour singles title that year in Rotterdam (d. Sluiter). Mirnyi also reached the 2002 US Open quarter-finals.

”I am excited about the opportunity to have a chance and help Kei,” Mirnyi said. “I have known Kei for a long time from the days of my active playing career. Training and spending a lot of time at the IMG Academy in Bradenton. So, I hope that this progression will be natural for both of us personally and on a professional level.”

Nishikori has not competed since this year’s US Open due to a right elbow injury, which he underwent surgery for in October. He finished this season with a 29-14 record, including a title in Brisbane (d. Medvedev) and quarter-final showings at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

Nishikori will kick off next year by representing Japan in the inaugural ATP Cup, held from 3-12 January in Australia. He will join Yoshihito Nishioka, Yasutaka Uchiyama, Go Soeda and Ben McLachlan from 3-8 January in Perth, where they will face Spain, Georgia and Uruguay in Group B. Should they advance from their round-robin group, they will held to Sydney from 9-12 January as part of the Final Eight teams.

Continuing our Season In Review series, ATPTour.com looks at the headlines that shaped 2019 on the doubles circuit.

Cabal/Farah Reach The Mountaintop
In 2018, Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah made their big breakthrough as a duo. The Colombians, who first partnered one another at the Futures level in 2004, earned 39 tour-level wins and qualified for their first Nitto ATP Finals.

But this season proved even better for the longtime friends and partners, becoming just the second all-South American duo to finish year-end No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Team Rankings (since 1984). In 1986, Chilean Hans Gildemeister and Ecuadorian Andres Gomez accomplished the feat.

“It’s an honour to receive this trophy, being alongside the names engraved on it,” Farah said during an on-court presentation at the Nitto ATP Finals, where the Colombians were the top seeds and reached the semi-finals. “Starting the year, it was difficult to predict we’d end it as the No. 1 team. It’s a dream come true and I’d like to thank everyone who is here for supporting us.”

Read: Cabal/Farah Presented Year-End No. 1 Trophy

Cabal and Farah captured five of their 17 tour-level titles in 2019, and they own a 3,655-point lead in the ATP Doubles Team Rankings ahead of No. 2 Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo.

Last year, Cabal and Farah won their first ATP Masters 1000 title in Rome, and they retained that trophy this season at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, and it only got better from there. The Colombians captured their first two Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon and the US Open, respectively.

Herbert/Mahut Show Their Class
Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut only competed together eight times in 2019, but they began and finished their season with a bang.

The Frenchmen completed their Career Grand Slam at the Australian Open, winning the season’s first major without losing a set from the quarter-finals on. Herbert and Mahut became the eighth men’s doubles team to lift all four Grand Slam trophies.

After losing two of their next three matches, the Frenchmen did not play together until Cincinnati, with Herbert choosing to focus on singles. He only played doubles three times between the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and the Western & Southern Open — including Wimbledon with Andy Murray.

It appeared that lay-off may have been detrimental to this team, with Herbert and Mahut losing in the second round in Cincinnati and the first round of the US Open. But after making the semi-finals in Vienna they found their best form, winning the Rolex Paris Masters and then the Nitto ATP Finals without dropping a set at either event.

The season finale was a special victory for the Frenchmen after letting slip a championship point against Mike Bryan and Jack Sock last year. It was the perfect ending to their 2019 campaign.

“It is pretty special [to win this trophy]. Maybe, for doubles, it is one of the toughest tournaments to win,” said Herbert. “After our story in London — we had three really tough years and last year we had a match point in the final — being able to win here is an amazing feeling.”

New Teams Break Through
Three teams broke through to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time together this year.

One year ago, Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies finished in 87th place in the ATP Doubles Race To London. But the Germans got off to a fast start in 2019, and they never looked back. Krawietz and Mies, who had competed mainly on the ATP Challenger Tour before 2019, won the New York Open for their first ATP Tour title, claimed their maiden Grand Slam trophy at Roland Garros and triumphed in Antwerp.

Rajeev Ram had previously qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals twice, in 2016 and 2017, but he did so then with Raven Klaasen. The American teamed with Brit Joe Salisbury for the first time this year, and the result was a 39-win season that included two ATP 500 titles and a trip to The O2. Ram and Salisbury were victorious in Dubai and Vienna, using those results to propel them into a spot at The O2.

The last of the team’s is Filip Polasek and Ivan Dodig. The Slovak-Croat team first got together in Antalya, which took place in the last week of June. Yet they clicked immediately, and pulled off a stunning run that saw them qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals. Dodig and Polasek made at least the semi-finals in eight of the 11 tournaments they played before London, triumphing in Cincinnati and Beijing while also finishing runner-up in Antalya and making the last four at Wimbledon.

Polasek’s Comeback
Polasek cracked the Top 10 of the ATP Doubles Rankings in November ahead of the Nitto ATP Finals. But less than 17 months earlier, the Slovak had no points at all.

That’s because when Polasek was 28, he was forced to retire due to injury, and he did not play professional tennis again for more than four years after that. Polasek had won 11 ATP Tour doubles titles and reached 13 additional finals. But a nerve issue in his back — he had loose discs in his spine — did not allow him to continue.

Read My Point: Re-Making Polasek After Five-Year Retirement

Even after retirement, Polasek still suffered from pain, so much so that coaching lower-level pros and even older juniors proved too tough of a task physically. He couldn’t even consistently play floorball recreationally. But last May, a chance meeting with Mike Bryan in Slovakia started the ball rolling on his comeback, and Polasek has not looked back since.

“If you told me that 15 months later I’d be sitting here as an ATP Masters 1000 champion, I would have told you that you’re crazy. I would never ever bet even a dollar on it. It’s been an incredible journey. But after everything I’ve been through, this is just the beginning,” Polasek wrote in a first-person essay for ATPTour.com in August.

Bob Bryan Returns From Hip Surgery, Bros Announce 2020 Retirement
Mike Bryan finished 2018 on a high, winning Wimbledon, the US Open and the Nitto ATP Finals with Jack Sock. His brother, Bob Bryan, underwent hip surgery last August, leaving an uncertain future for the twins.

But the Bryan brothers made their return in Brisbane this year and quickly clicked into form. The Americans made the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and triumphed in Delray Beach before hitting their highest note of the season in Miami, where they captured their 39th Masters 1000 trophy together, putting them in second place in the ATP Doubles Race To London.

Read About The Bryans’ Upcoming Retirement

The Bryan brothers won 35 tour-level matches together in 2019, earning their 1,100th team win in Cincinnati and qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals, but electing not to participate. They announced that 2020 will be their final season, planning to bring their historic careers to an end at the US Open. The Bryan brothers own 118 tour-level doubles titles together.

Taylor Fritz will join John Isner, Reilly Opelka, Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek as a part of Team United States at the inaugural ATP Cup, to be held in Australia from 3-12 January 2020. The United States will be competing in Group D in Perth, facing Russia, Italy and Norway.

The World No. 32, who captured his first ATP Tour title at the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne (d. Querrey) in June, speaks to ATPTour.com about what makes competing as a team special, his idols growing up and more.

Why are you excited about competing in the ATP Cup?
I’m really excited to go and start the year off by playing guaranteed matches against some of the world’s best players in the first week of the 2020 season. It’s going to be an incredible new event for players and fans. Every match will be critical to the overall result and whether the United States progress to the Final Eight [in Sydney]. That will provide pressure and extra nerves, but it will mean everyone will see who has put in the work during the off-season. Also, I have always liked the look of the Perth Arena. Being able to see some of the beautiful city will mean it’s going to be a memorable experience. I never thought I’d be able to visit.

What do you think will be the most fun part of playing on a team?
We play a lot individually and at the end of the year, you’re measured by your position in the ATP Rankings. But we don’t get to compete that often as a team, with fellow players cheering you on from the side of the court. Winning and losing certainly adds a lot of extra energy to matches when you’re playing for your country, but I’ve found it does help me to play better. It’s going to be great to play alongside John, as I did at the Laver Cup in September. It was a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to the ATP Cup. It will be really fun. These events bring the team close together and you cheer each other.

Which countrymen did you watch growing up and what did you admire about them?
Growing up in a tennis family, I watched all the American players. But I was a huge fan of Pete Sampras, watching his matches and his rivalry with Andre Agassi, the overall contrast of styles and how they each went about winning. Now being coached by Sampras’ (and Roger Federer’s) former coach, Paul Annacone, I’ve gained an insight into how they operated and I have learned a lot on the court and mentally. I’ve improved so much working with Paul and finally winning an ATP 250-level title in Eastbourne was so special and a huge weight off my shoulders.

If you could take one shot from anyone in your country, what would it be and why?
Certainly at the ATP Cup, Team United States will come with a lot of firepower. Even though I can hit a serve, I’ve always admired John’s [Isner] serve. He makes it look so effortless, but I know just how hard he works to develop repetition and rhythm, so when it comes to a match his big weapon is on. I think the serve and power will be the key weapons of USA. It’s going to be tricky to compete against countries with two highly ranked players, but that’s going to be the big challenge.

What were your early memories of playing tennis in United States as a kid?
I started very young. It would have been watching my Mum [former WTA Top 10 player Kathy May Fritz] play tennis on the side of the court, or attending and competing in hundreds of junior tournaments and just generally being at tennis clubs. At the age of 12, I remember playing in a mother-son event in San Diego and my Mum suffering a calf injury during a quarter-final against college guys, older opponents. Back then it mattered, so I forced her to keep going. My Mum and Dad [Guy, a tennis coach] have helped me so much.

What do you love most about your country and representing United States?
I love the size and the opportunities. Being able to travel and play tennis really opens your eyes to new cultures internationally, but I really enjoy my time in the States. Everything that you want is available. I made my first ATP Tour final at the age of 18 on home soil in Memphis [in February 2016], but fell short against Kei Nishikori. For me, it’s been a great honour to represent the United States and to be among those who will play at the first ATP Cup in January.

Benoit Paire’s career resurgence this season has led to him earning the right to represent France in the inaugural ATP Cup, held throughout Australia from 3-12 January.

The Frenchman will join Gael Monfils, Lucas Pouille, Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in Perth from 3-8 January, where they will face off against Serbia, South Africa and Chile in Group A. Should they advance from their round-robin group, the trio will head to Sydney from 9-12 January as part of the Final Eight teams. 

Paire’s clinched his first ATP Tour singles title in four years this April in Marrakesh (d. Andujar), then followed that up a month later with another title on home soil in Lyon (d. Auger-Aliassime) The 30-year-old also finished runner-up in Winston-Salem (l. to Hurkacz) and reached the fourth round at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

Paire discussed his favourite French players growing up and why he thrives in a team environment.

Which French players did you like to watch growing up?
I would say Sebastien Grosjean and Arnaud Clement. I was always following their matches and supporting them. I grew up close to Marseille, so I was able to see them live at the Open 13 in Marseille and it was important for me to watch them.

What are some of your earliest tennis memories in France as a child?
I remember going with my parents to Roland Garros. It was a big experience to be able to watch the players practise and get some autographs from them.

What are you most excited for with the ATP Cup?
I like being on a team a lot. You can feel the pressure when you’re playing for your country, so I’m very happy to play in the ATP Cup.

If you could pick one shot from any French player on Tour, who would it be and why?
We have too many French players and too many good shots! I would say the speed of Gael Monfils.

Who is the funniest French player on tour?
Again, Monfils. He’s a good player and I like to watch him play – when he wants to play! I understand though because sometimes it’s not easy to be 100 per cent every week, but I like to see him doing well this year.

What are three things you love most about France?
The food, for sure. The girls are beautiful in France. And I like the crowds.

Did you grow up playing junior tournaments or team events with the other guys on your team?
Not really because Monfils is older than me and Pouille is younger than me, but I know them well and we are good friends. It will be interesting to be on the same team.

Plenty of people describe their wedding as the best day of their lives, but Indian doubles expert Divij Sharan was fittingly able to double his pleasure with British WTA pro Samantha Murray.

After their first wedding ceremony in Manchester on 19 July, the couple were surrounded by friends and family once again as they tied the knot in New Delhi on 23 November. Their busy schedules as professional tennis players meant they needed to wait until the off-season for a second ceremony.

“We decided to have two ceremonies so that we were able to celebrate both of our cultures and traditions which are important to us, with our family and friends from each side,” Sharan said. “We fit the events in around our tennis schedules, which is why they had to be four months apart.”

Sharan is currently No. 46 in the ATP Doubles Rankings. He won ATP Tour doubles titles this year in Pune (w/Bopanna) and St. Petersburg (w/Zelenay), in addition to a runner-up finish in Munich (w/Demoliner). Murray has a WTA singles ranking of No. 220.

“We hope to be able to play more combined events together so we can actually get to see each other!” Sharan said. “Life on tour is so busy, so I think it’s amazing that she is a tennis player as well. She knows what it takes to be on the circuit and we are there to support each other’s careers.”

John Isner will lead Team United States at the inaugural ATP Cup, to be held in Australia from 3-12 January 2020. The United States will be competing in Group D in Perth, facing Russia, Italy and Norway. Isner will be joined by Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka, Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek.

The World No. 19, who finished inside the year-end Top 20 for the 10th consecutive season, speaks to ATPTour.com about his excitement for the new team event, his longtime relationship with one of his teammates and more before the competition gets underway.

Next year will start a bit differently for you with a new team event in the ATP Cup. How excited are you for that?
It’s very interesting. This is of course a brand new event and one that I think a lot of players are excited about and myself in particular. I think I’m going to have a nice little off-season, spending a lot of my time in Dallas, being able to focus on my family, but also focus on myself and keeping myself in good shape and trying to stay sharp on the tennis side of things as well.

I’m looking forward to that event and I think it’s a very good thing. It’s guaranteed matches. The past three, four years I’ve sort of stumbled in Australia. It sort of takes me a long time to get going and feel good about my game, so I’m very much looking forward to the ATP Cup.

I think we also have a good team on top of that, so it’ll be exciting. It’s been a while since I’ve been to Perth, Australia. Looking forward to getting over there, it’s a lot of fun and it’ll be a blast.

You went to college before turning professional, so you’ve long enjoyed a team environment. Do you think that playing the ATP Cup will help you considering what you said about slow starts the past few years?
I think so for sure. I’ve always enjoyed playing for a team. I’ve really done it my whole life. Playing in the team events, playing in the Laver Cup has been a joy for me and you definitely can get your competitive juices flowing after a pretty long lay-off.

It’ll be pressure-packed on top of that, being out there playing for your country right out of the gate. So I do think that will be a very good thing for me and hopefully it will bode well for the Australian Open next year.

One of your teammates is Rajeev Ram, who is just a year older than you. Is it exciting to compete with someone you’ve known for so long?
We’ve known each other forever now, since 14 and under juniors. I remember seeing his name in the draw. He was always better than me in the juniors and he was a pretty big name when it came to junior tennis. He’s obviously done incredible things on the pro tour and he’s been incredibly consistent as well.

He had a very good singles career and now he’s having an excellent doubles career, so for him to be on the team I think is a huge boon for our team considering how good he is in doubles and he’s very excited about it as well. We’ve texted back and forth and I know he’s fired up about playing the ATP Cup. Austin Krajicek is on our team as well so our team is set and we’re looking forward to getting over to Australia. 

How exciting is it to get to play with someone like Rajeev given those memories you have from when you were kids?
It’s very cool. We’ve actually never had this opportunity before to play a team event together. We played at different colleges so to be able to team up with Rajeev I think will be very cool. Outside of the Bryan brothers, we’re the elder statesmen of American tennis, so it’ll be cool to team up with him.

How special is it for your to represent the United States?
It’s a great honour. Getting to represent the U.S. in the ATP Cup is a huge honour, and it’s more important than playing for yourself out there. It’s a big honour and I personally think this event is going to be very successful as well. It’s going to be a lot of fun, the competition is going to be amazing. All in all, I couldn’t think of a better way to start the year.

What’s most special about the United States as a country?
It’s the greatest country in the world. You have the most opportunity to do amazing things in this country and I’ve been afforded that opportunity through tennis. Everything you really want to do is at your disposal if you work hard, focus and just make right decisions and respect the people that you need to respect and I think that’s what I’ve done my whole life.

It’s afforded me to do some pretty cool things on the court and off the court. I enjoy my time in the States more than anything. I think there’s a reason why I always play well in America and it’s because I’m very comfortable here.

Continuing our Season In Review series, ATPTour.com revisits the fiercest rivalries of 2019. Today we feature Novak Djokovic vs. Roger Federer.

Once a rivalry moves past 20 or 30 matches, surely not even all-time greats Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer can recall each match in detail, such as who did what on match point and how exactly momentum shifted in each FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting.

In 2019, Djokovic and Federer added only two matches to their FedEx ATP Head2Head series (Djokovic leads 26-23). But, no doubt, those two battles will remain long in the memory of both players, such was the quality of each meeting.

Wimbledon, F, Djokovic d. Federer 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-6(4), 4-6, 13-12(3)
Djokovic had beaten Federer in their past two Wimbledon finals (2014, 2015), and it had been four years since Federer had beaten Djokovic anywhere. But there was still plenty of reason to believe the Swiss, an eight-time Wimbledon champion, would pull off the upset.

Federer beat Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals, their first matchup at SW19 since that 2008 final, widely considered the greatest match in history, and Federer had pushed Djokovic to three sets in the 2018 Rolex Paris Masters final, which was named “Best ATP Match Of 2018” by ATPTour.com.

But Djokovic harboured loads of confidence as well, having won his fourth Wimbledon title (d. Anderson) in 2018 and his past three matches against his Swiss rival.

Federer, playing in his 12^thWimbledon final, forced the decider by serving the fourth set out during his second attempt. But Djokovic ripped back momentum in the fifth game of the deciding set, breaking for a 4-2 lead. The Serbian had been up and down during the final up to that point.

Djokovic battled to take the first set tie-break and the lead, then all but disappeared during the second set as Federer evened the match. In the third, the Djokovic of old entered lockdown mode to again take the tie-break.

But Federer, who was steady all match, answered in the fourth, giving a capacity Centre Court crowd and the millions of fans watching on TV exactly what they wanted: a fifth set.

Djokovic served for a 5-2 lead in the fifth when the best drama of the season began. Federer broke back as a pro-Swiss crowd roared, and the two stayed on serve until 7-7, when Federer broke for a chance to serve out the match.

At 37 years and 340 days, Federer was trying to become the oldest man in the Open Era to win a Slam. He also was seeking his ninth Wimbledon title and his first major championship crown since January 2018 at the Australian Open.

Serving at 8-7, 40/15, pro-Federer fans held up their index fingers. Just one more point, and Federer would be able to celebrate more Wimbledon glory. But the Swiss couldn’t handle a deep Djokovic return that made it 40/30, and Djokovic crushed a forehand pass to make it deuce before breaking and putting the final back on serve.

It had been 71 years since a Wimbledon men’s singles champion had saved match points in the final, and no singles match at SW19 had ever been decided by a fifth-set tie-break. For the first time, organisers decided that a tie-break would be implemented at 12-all in the fifth set instead of making someone win by two games, like Kevin Anderson did against John Isner in the 2018 semi-finals, when he won the fifth set 26-24.

But Djokovic saved two match points, and he won the fifth-set tie-break for his fifth Wimbledon title.

By some measures, Federer outplayed the Serbian, winning 14 more points and hitting 40 more winners (94 to 54). But by the most important measure – the score – Djokovic owned their 48^th FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting and had now beaten Federer in three consecutive Wimbledon finals.

Nitto ATP Finals, Group Bjorn Borg, Federer d. Djokovic 6-4, 6-3
Win and advance: Djokovic and Federer’s second match of 2019 would send one of them home and propel the other one to the semi-finals of the season finale at The O2 in London. Both players had lost to Dominic Thiem earlier in the week and were 1-1 heading into the Thursday night showdown.

Djokovic was hoping to reach the semi-finals and make a push for his sixth year-end No. 1 finish in the ATP Rankings. Federer, meanwhile, was going for his second “Big Title” of the season after winning his 28^th ATP Masters 1000 title in Miami (d. Isner).

The Swiss also was looking to recalibrate his rivalry with Djokovic. The Serbian had won nine of their past 11 matchups, including the Wimbledon final in July. But, before their 49^th FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting, Federer batted off any suggestions that the tough loss at SW19 would affect him at The O2.

“I didn’t hope I was never going to play him again,” Federer said. “Actually, it’s good for me to play him again, and maybe that all helps to get a chance to get him back.

“I’m personally excited to play against Novak.”

The excitement showed. Federer played one of his best matches of the season, executing his aggressive game plan close to perfection and overwhelming Djokovic, who never had the upper hand.

At 1-1, the Serbian donated two double faults to start, and on break point, 0/40, Federer walloped a sitting backhand. On serve, Federer won 87 per cent (20/23) of his service points and made only one unforced error in the first set.

Djokovic saw a break point in the fourth game of the second set, but Federer saved it and broke the next game as the crowd chanted, “Let’s go, Ro-ger, let’s go!”

Federer broke once more to close it out. He finished with 23 winners to only five unforced errors.

Watch Federer-Djokovic Nitto ATP Finals Highlights

“There was a lot riding on the match. I think I served great, had great anticipation, a clear game plan and it worked to perfection tonight, and hopefully not the last time against Novak,” Federer said. “But even if it [is], it was all worth it. It was a great performance tonight from me.”

Federer would fall short of winning the season’s final title, losing to Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals. But the Swiss had reset his rivalry with Djokovic, a promising sign for Federer and his fans heading into 2020.

Djokovic vs. Federer In 2019

One of the final six countries to qualify for the inaugural ATP Cup was Moldova, led by World No. 46 Radu Albot. The 30-year-old, who claimed his first ATP Tour title this year in Delray Beach, is the highest-ranked player in his country’s history as well as its only titlist.

Albot speaks to ATPTour.com about how important Moldova’s participation in the ATP Cup is for tennis in his country, what the opportunity means for his teammates and what he loves most about Moldova.

What would it mean to you to lead your country into the ATP Cup?
I think it’s pretty big for Moldova because bigger countries like Ukraine and Romania, which border Moldova, did not get in. It is cool for our country and for me also of course, being No. 1 in Moldova and playing matches against top players. It will be very interesting, so it will be good for the country, good for me. Only positive things to get from that.

Speaking of how important it is for you to start the year against top competition, so how much of an opportunity is it for you to face those tough matches right away?
I don’t mind. It’s good to play against the top guys. It’s good that you have a chance to get matches against them… I don’t mind to play with the top guys, for sure.

I guess I’ll be playing both matches – singles and doubles. You have to play and if I’m No. 1, I need to go on the court to compete.

You’re not on a team too often, so what will that experience be like for you?
I think I just need to focus on my matches, because my matches will be much stronger playing against the top guys in the world. From there, we’ll see who we’re going to play, how we’re going to play and so on.

What do you love most about your country?
I like that in Moldova, people are very simple. They are very hospitable. They will invite you in your house, invite you for dinner, for a glass wine, something like that. These two characteristics are for most of the Moldovan people. That’s what I like the most from my country and my people.

At a lot of your biggest tournaments you’ve said family and friends stay up through the night to watch you. Do you think the whole country will be keeping its eye on your team?
I don’t know how many people will be awake to watch. Maybe a lot, maybe not so many. But I think the people close to me like my family and close friends will stay up and watch, especially if I have a match against a big guy.

You’ve always said that you want to inspire people from your country, kids to become better than you one day. So how important is this to show your country competing against the best in the world?
I think it’s very important to be among the top countries in the world because of me, because of my [ATP] Ranking. That’s pretty good. I know for sure now that the kids are watching me, they are trying to play as me. I am a role model for them and I would say it’s pretty important that they are focussed, they practise and become better than me one day.

How well do you know some of your teammates?
I know all of them. I’ve even spoken with them about if they’re happy to participate in the ATP Cup, if they want to come.

How important is it for them to have this opportunity?
One guy was very excited. He was like, ‘Yeah, for sure I’m coming, no question.’ Straight away he gave a positive answer. For sure it’s something cool for them to be in such a big event because they play only Futures events.

To be right away with the top guys at a top tournament with top prize money, this will be a good experience for them and hopefully give them a a boost so they can improve, get better and compete at a higher level, not only Futures.

Growing up, when you would go to the tennis courts, what was the experience like since tennis isn’t huge in Moldova?
The first memory is you get a ball and you go to hit against the wall. And then there are 30 kids on one court and one guy hits the ball, one guy hits the other way and you run and you hustle and nothing happens. It’s like chaos everywhere.

Another thing I remember is you hit over the wall and you need to go around the fence to grab your ball because you get just one. So you practise hitting the wall for a few minutes, you hit it over and then you look for the ball for 30 minutes.