Marat Safin, the player, wore his heart on his sleeve and struck powerfully off both wings to become a fan’s favourite. But as the charismatic captain of Team Russia, the former World No. 1 insists he will be more cautious courtside at the inaugural 2020 ATP Cup.

“The captain has to respect the coaches of each player, we’ll work together,” Safin told media in Perth on Thursday. “Not everything will be on my back, but the coaches know better than me and the effect on the player’s performance.

“I don’t want to interfere too much, because it might not have the right effect. I want them to be themselves, because everyone has their own character, and do the best they can. I want them to have their own approach and I will be careful with my words.”

With two Top 20 players in the FedEx ATP Rankings at his disposal, Safin will be joined on the bench during singles matches at the RAC Arena by Gilles Cervara (No. 5-ranked Daniil Medvedev’s coach) and Vedran Martic (No. 17 Karen Khachanov’s coach).

”I believe we have the ‘dream team’, and we’ll be the future champions of the ATP Cup,” Safin added, with a smile. “I’m really happy with the team, I’m pleased and proud to be part of a great team. Everyone is a great guy, which is very important.”

Looking ahead to their first tie on Friday against Team Italy, Safin said: “The first tie is always a tough one, the first match in the arena, Italians are always tough to play against. They are grinders and it will be important to take a good first step.

“It will be tough, for sure… but our confidence is rocking. We’ve been here a few days and we’re ready to play. Russia is into tennis with Daniil and Karen doing well right now. But we want to move ice hockey from top spot and make Russians proud.”

Medvedev, who put together a career-best 59-21 match record, including four titles in 2019, will face Fabio Fognini in his singles rubber on Friday. The World No. 5 said: “I like to play Fabio, it suits my style well. I don’t think he likes to play with me. It will be interesting to see what he does on Friday. I’m always proud to represent my country, hopefully very well. My first goal is to try and be consistent.”

Khachanov said: “It’s always nice to fight for your colours and together it means something. We will try to do our best, to try and win the whole championship. Everyone is proud to be part of the ATP Cup, which will be a big start to the year. I’ve been here before, the court is a little slower than in the past, but we’re prepared well and will be ready.”

Former World No. 43 Teymuraz Gabashvili, who has struggled to overcome injuries in recent years, admitted: “I’m happy to be here. I was out for a long time and to be around the guys, top-level guys, for me, is a great experience again. I hope that I can see where am I now… We have unbelievable captain – [an] ex World No. 1, so he can push everybody here, [and] a winner of Grand Slams. Our goal, for sure, is to win here.”

Team Russia, which also boast Ivan Nedelko and Konstantin Kravchuk among its lineup, competes in Group D against Italy, United States and Norway in Perth.

The ATP Cup will kick off the 2020 ATP Tour season with broadcast coverage secured in more than 180 territories worldwide, the ATP announced on Thursday.

The new 24-country team event will launch the 2020 season with the group stages played simultaneously across Brisbane, Perth and Sydney from 3 January, before the Final Eight knock-out stages take place in Sydney from 9-12 January.

Ross Hutchins, ATP Cup Managing Director, said: “Our intention has been to kick off the season with a major global event and the ATP Cup is set to provide exactly that, with a fantastic player field across our three venues. We’re delighted with the broadcast agreements in place that will ensure that fans all over the world will be able to tune into the action to follow the start of the season as the players go head-to-head for their countries in a bid to win the inaugural ATP Cup.”

The host broadcast of the ATP Cup will be produced by Tennis Australia, with domestic rights held by Channel Nine in Australia, while the international broadcast sales and distribution are handled by ATP Media, the broadcast arm of the ATP Tour.

“Through the ATP Cup broadcast we want to take the tennis fan right into the heart of true ethos of this event,” Tennis Australia Chief Operating Officer and ATP Cup Tournament Director Tom Larner said.

“It’s all about the teams, the passion and the camaraderie of these players and we want to show how much it means to them and how amazing these athletes are. The ATP Cup will offer something very unique in the world of tennis. There’s never been a 10-day tennis tournament held across three different cities simultaneously before, and we’re excited to bring this new event to the world through a contemporised broadcast that appeals to, and attracts, new audiences to tennis.”

The world’s leading broadcasters have committed to the event, with live coverage being shown via free-to-air TV, pay TV, online and via OTT products depending on the territory, demonstrating the wide interest in the ATP Cup and reflecting the variety of platforms on which sport is viewed.

The likes of ESPN (Latin America), Eurosport (Scandinavia), Tennis Channel (United States), TSN (Canada), BeIN (France and MENA), TV Asahi (Japan), Sky Deutschland (Germany), and Servus TV (Austria) are among the broadcasters to have secured the rights to the $US15 million prize money event.

Stuart Watts, Chief Operating Officer, ATP Media, said: “The inaugural ATP Cup has attracted worldwide interest from broadcasters and we’re pleased to have reached agreements in more than 180 territories that will ensure that the event gets a worldwide visibility that will be unprecedented in week one of the calendar.”

Nick Kyrgios will have home on his mind during the ATP Cup as Australia continues to be impacted by the worst wildfires seen in decades.

As of Wednesday, 17 people have died throughout the country and more than 1,000 homes have been destroyed. Kyrgios’ hometown of Canberra is experiencing its worst air quality on record as local residents have been told to stay indoors.

Eager to help, Kyrgios tweeted on Wednesday to Tennis Australia and asked them to put on an exhibition fundraiser. The tweet quickly went viral as fans applauded the Aussie for looking to make a difference.

C’mon @TennisAustralia surely we can do a pre @AustralianOpen exho to raise funds for those affected by the fires? ??‍♂️??‍♂️

— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) January 1, 2020

“It’s pretty tragic what’s going on, especially with my hometown, Canberra, being under a bit of smoke, the most hazardous smoke in the world at the moment,” Kyrgios said on Thursday at a pre-tournament press conference in Brisbane. “It’s obviously sad for everything that’s going on… There’s no rain predicted there for the next four months, so it doesn’t look like the fires are going to slow down anytime soon, which is pretty sad. To see Canberra be like that, it’s pretty tough.”

If Kyrgios hoped to create action, his tweet helped accomplish that. Craig Tiley, CEO of Tennis Australia, confirmed shortly after that a multi-city effort will be launched to support those who have been impacted by the wildfires.

“We want to help these communities in a meaningful way and will announce a number of fundraising and support initiatives that will be rolled out across the ATP Cup, Australian Open and our other events over the coming weeks,” Tiley wrote in a statement. “Stay tuned for further announcements.”

Kyrgios also knows that he has the support of his peers on Team Australia. The other players in the squad hope to lend a hand throughout the coming weeks.

“I’m sure that all these guys will be happy to help,” Kyrgios said. “John Millman and John Peers retweeted, so the more exposure it gets, I think we have the potential to do something pretty special.”

Team Australia captain Lleyton Hewitt added that, “It’s been a pretty tough time for a lot of the major states of our country… I think all of us feel like we would like to help in some way. Tennis, and especially Tennis Australia, have always made an effort to try and put things together, and we have got a massive platform… If they can organise something quick enough, I’m sure they will try and do absolutely everything they can.”

For now, Kyrgios will shift his focus to Australia’s first match on Friday against Germany in Group F. Each victory that the 24-year-old can provide his team will only heighten his platform to talk about the wildfires that impact him personally.

“Our focus, obviously, is tomorrow,” Kyrgios said. “We’ve got a massive match. But all the families and all affected are in our thoughts.”

Throughout the year, you can find Great Britain’s tennis stars in players’ lounges, restaurants and hotel rooms around the world bantering over football among other sports. They are undoubtedly a tight-knit group. But week-to-week, they compete for themselves.

What is special about the ATP Cup is that it provides guys like Daniel Evans, Cameron Norrie, James Ward, Joe Salisbury and Jamie Murray a chance to bring those friendships onto the court, competing as a team against other countries.

“It’s just a different dynamic, different energy. It’s cool to have your teammates there on the side cheering you on and wanting you to win for the team. It’s really cool to be in it together,” Murray said. “We don’t really ever get a chance to do that, and I think that’s what’s so exciting about this new event. It’ll bring together a lot of teams, a lot of players together. You see those emotions and stuff on the side of the court with the support. It’s totally unique.”

It’s not to say that the Brits don’t support each other throughout the season. But when they take the court in Sydney beginning Friday, they’ll be part of the action, sitting in the special team zones that are unique to the ATP Cup to provide support for teammates.

“We spend a lot of time together during the year at events, but I think when we come together as a team, it’s different,” Murray said. “Everyone’s closer together and you’re spending your days with those people. We all know each other really well, whether that’s the players or the coaches or the physios and stuff that are here with us, the support team. It’s cool. We really enjoy it.”

And while the Brits joke around with each other off the court between matches — Norrie and Murray had good fun Wednesday on Sydney Harbour poking fun at one another’s sunglasses — those genuine friendships carry into the heat of competition in a good way.

“We’re all into the same stuff, so it makes it a lot easier,” Ward said. “It helps if you get on well off the court. Everyone does on our team so on the court we’re going to fight for each other harder and support each other as well.”

Evans, the No. 1 singles player for Great Britain in Sydney, echoed many of the same sentiments.

“I think it’s going to be really good,” Evans said. “You know they can get pumped for the guy on court to try and get him through the match in a tight one, and I think it will be a great new addition.”

Another positive the players have found in the ATP Cup is that it feels like an extra-special way to begin the new season, motivating them even more to get off to a good start.

“I think for the players, they all enjoy getting together as a team,” Murray said. “Everyone gets on well from the respective countries and you’re pulling together for one common goal. It’s different. It’s fun and I think it’s a great way for the Tour to kick off its season.”

Each team has a captain at the ATP Cup. And in Team Great Britain’s case, former World No. 4 Tim Henman is doing whatever he can to put his players in position for success at this inaugural 24-team event.

“I’ve known these guys for a long, long time away from an event like this. But certainly when you do get together at the beginning of a new year — we’ve had plenty of time to prepare — it’s great to build that spirit,” Henman said. “We’ll need it because you look at this event as a whole and the 24 teams and you have eight of the Top 10, 23 of the Top 30 [in the ATP Rankings] playing, we’re going to need to be firing on all cylinders.”

For the players, it’s a special opportunity to work with a national icon, one who could help lead them to victory here in Sydney.

“It’s nice to have Tim as an addition to pass on some of the experience on the court and get to know him a bit better,” Norrie said. “I think we’re all really excited to get out there and start the year. It’s looking like it’s shaping up to be a sick event, so let’s see what happens.”

Bondi Beach became a brilliant bonding location for Team Austria on Thursday morning, with the start of their ATP Cup just two days away. Dominic Thiem and the Austrians had a blast at the Bondi Icebergs as a nice break from practice before locking in to face Team Croatia on Saturday evening in Sydney.

“It’s a great city and I’ve never been to Bondi Beach, so I’m happy to be brought here,” Thiem said. “It’s a great kick-off for the tournament and we are all getting more and more excited, and can’t wait for the start.”

The Bondi Icebergs is a year-round outdoor pool high above the beach itself with a stunning view of the water. The Austrians took full advantage of that, taking plenty of pictures before jumping in the pool to cool off.

Most importantly, the guys were growing even closer together, building the chemistry that is making this inaugural 24-team event special.

“We know each other for a long time, everybody. So it’s a great atmosphere. We’re having a lot of fun, we’re having good practices, so it’s exactly the way it should be,” Thiem said. “It’s been a lot of practices and of course we can’t wait that the matches are going on again. We all miss our tennis, our matches, but also the other matches on TV. It’s just nice when the new season starts again and it’s going to be great when the time is ready.”

According to captain Thomas Muster, a former World No. 1 in the ATP Rankings, his country’s stars have been working hard in preparation. They will need to battle through a tough Group E to advance to the last eight, also facing Team Argentina and Poland in round-robin play.

“[They are] doing very well. I think we all adjusted well to the time change, to the climate. The boys have been in the country for quite a while,” Muster said. “We’re all good and ready to go.”

If the score is Deuce, it’s probably Dominic Thiem returning.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of games that reach Deuce in the past four seasons identifies Thiem as the leading candidate to stretch the server to Deuce, at 863 times. The data set is comprised of all players on tour from 2016-2019 that took the server to Deuce at least 100 times over the four-year span.

Thiem was one of only two players that reached the 800-game mark, with the other being Alexander Zverev, who took the server to Deuce 807 times over the past four seasons.

The leading 10 players that were able to get the score to Deuce when returning from 2016-2019 are in the table below.

2016-2019: Most Games Stretched To Deuce As A Returner

2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas led the tour last season with the most amount of return games played at Deuce, with 243.

2019: Total Deuce Games When Returning
S. Tsitsipas = 243
A. Zverev = 232
D. Medvedev = 232

Who won the most return games from Deuce over the past four seasons? It was current World No. 1, Rafael Nadal, who was the only player to top the 40 percentile mark, winning 40.36 per cent (289/716) from 2016-2019.

The 10 leading players who had the highest win percentage are in the table below.

2016-2019: Highest Win Percentage Breaking From Deuce

The leading three players from the 2019 season, who had at least 25 games go to Deuce when returning serve were:

2019: Highest Win Percentage Breaking From Deuce
N. Gombos = 44.44% (16/35)
R. Nadal = 41.12% (81/197)
N. Djokovic = 39.52% (83/210)

Extending the server to Deuce is quite often a victory in its own right, making the server have to work harder to hold, which eventually will lead to a break of serve. Converting these longer, grueling games is as much about mental toughness and concentration as it is about return prowess and patterns of play.

Novak Djokovic admires the simplicity, the restorative aspects of the koala lifestyle. The irresistible animals rarely stray from their eucalyptus trees in eastern Australia and sleep for up to 18 hours a day.

Djokovic, however, the No. 2 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings, doesn’t think it’d be such a good idea for him or Team Serbia to act more like koalas at the ATP Cup in Brisbane.

“I don’t think the koala lifestyle would help us tennis players a lot, even though at times we could definitely learn something from them,” Djokovic said on Wednesday while standing next to a couple of cuddly koalas at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane. “Sometimes the simple things are the best things, just relaxing and being present, kind of recuperating and being outdoors, being in the nature.”

Serbia’s No. 1 grew up exploring nature and the Serbian mountains, and that’s where Djokovic learned to appreciate wildlife and animals.

“I love animals, spending times close to them but respecting their space, which I think is very important because we sometimes as people try to act as the most dominant species, which we consider ourselves to be. But I truly believe we all should live in harmony and respect and there is a higher order of nature that we should all be aware of,” Djokovic said. “I’m very close to a koala at the moment. I see that they’re sleeping and resting so I don’t want to disturb them too much but it’s definitely a very unique experience.”

Djokovic and his ATP Cup teammates Dusan Lajovic, Nikola Milojevic, Nikola Cacic and Viktor Troicki have been adapting the koala lifestyle at times – enjoying each other’s company off the court and relaxing away from the tennis. But they’ve been employing their usual routines – those of hard-working tennis players – most of the time Down Under.

Serbia plays its first match on Saturday against South Africa.

“Many, many different things that we can do also off the court as well we get to enjoy. We stay together and play different sports. We spend quality time and it’s fun, because the concept of ATP Cup is a team concept, team format, and so it does give us an opportunity to represent our country and be a part of the team which is not something that we do experience throughout the year very often,” Djokovic said.

Kevin Anderson will make a welcome return to the ATP Tour for the first time in six months, representing Team South Africa at the inaugural ATP Cup, which is being held in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney from 3 January.

“It’s going to be an awesome event representing South Africa and also for the sport of tennis,” Anderson told ATPTour.com. “Coming back to a big stage, with guaranteed matches is a perfect way to start the season.

Anderson, who has not played competitively since 5 July due to a right knee injury, will lead Team South Africa in Brisbane alongside Lloyd Harris, Ruan Roelofse, Khololwam Montsi and Raven Klaasen.

“It’s a great opportunity to represent South Africa in this format, which makes a lot of sense for players,” said Anderson. “We have a good team with Lloyd, who continues to get better, and Raven, who had an amazing year in doubles.

“I’ll be healthy and ready to go, I bring a lot of experience and have played a lot of these guys before. Coming back from injuries is always a little bit tricky, but the way my practises have been going, I’ll be ready to go from the very first match.”

Anderson was restricted to just 15 matches in the 2019 season, which included lifting his sixth ATP Tour title at the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune (d. Karlovic). His final match of the year came against Guido Pella in the Wimbledon third round on 5 July. The former World No. 5 and his wife, Kelsey, then welcomed their first child, Keira, on 27 September.

“2019 was a bit of a tough year for me on the tennis court,” said Anderson. “Coming in after my best year in 2018, starting the year off well and winning in Pune. Then the injuries came upon me, first the elbow then the knee, after the elbow had been better for the week.

“Looking back, you always think you could have done better, but off the court my wife and I knew we’d be having our first baby. So it was a blessing in disguise, to be able to spend more time with them, especially at home. All in all, I’m looking forward to getting back on the match court.”

Last month, Anderson hosted Courtside Cause, his third charity event, at the Boca Grove Golf & Tennis Club. The event benefitted First Serve, Dezzy’s Second Chance Animal Rescue and Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas Alliance.