Filip Krajinovic made a winning start to his 2023 season Monday at the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune, but not before the sixth-seeded Serbian was given a mighty scare by home favourite Sumit Nagal.

After Krajinovic took the opening set of the pair’s maiden ATP Head2Head meeting, Nagal converted his first break point of the match in the 10th game of the second set to draw level in the first-round clash at the ATP 250 event in India. It was Krajinovic who found something extra to break at the tailend of the deciding set, however, as he completed a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win.

There was no dream victory for Nagal’s 15-year-old countryman Manas Dhamne on his ATP Tour debut, but the #NextGenATP talent still produced some moments of magic for the home fans in his first-round clash against American Michael Mmoh.

Dhamne, who only turned 15 on 29 December, is currently No. 80 in the ITF Junior Rankings, and highlights of his tour-level debut included breaking the World No. 113 Mmoh to love in the second set. The American held firm to complete a 6-2, 6-4 victory against the young wild card, however, and he will face Krajinovic next.

There were a pair of first-round upsets on Monday in western India as Laslo Djere and Tallon Griekspoor both dismissed seeded opponents in straight sets. Djere fired 12 aces en route to his 6-2, 6-4 victory against fifth seed Alex Molcan, and the Serbian will next face Elias Ymer or Maximilian Marterer.

Greikspoor kicked off his 2023 season by easing past seventh seed Jaume Munar 6-4, 7-5. The Dutchman, who is currently No. 95 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings but reached a career-high No. 44 in August, will meet Marco Cecchinato in the second round after the Italian downed five-time tour-level titlist Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-2, 6-2.

Alex de Minaur delivered a stunning performance under the lights in Sydney Monday when he overcame World No. 2 Rafael Nadal 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 to give Team Australia a 1-0 lead against Team Spain in Group D at the United Cup.

With a capacity crowd watching on, the 23-year-old rallied from a set-and-a-break down to earn the biggest win of his career by Pepperstone ATP Ranking after two hours and 44 minutes.

In a thrilling encounter, De Minaur showed an abundance of grit and quality to delight his raucous home supporters. The World No. 24 scampered around the baseline to hang in rallies, shortening his backswing off his groundstrokes to take away time from Nadal and turn the tables. With his statement victory, the 23-year-old improved to 1-3 in his ATP Head2Head series against Nadal.

De Minaur, who lost against Briton Cameron Norrie in his opening match of the season, has now earned eight Top 10 wins in his career.

Nadal, who also fell to Norrie at the mixed-teams event, tasted success on Australian soil last year, winning an ATP 250 title in Melbourne before he lifted his second Australian Open trophy. However, he is still searching for his first win of the new season.

After a slow start on Ken Rosewall Arena, Nadal came to life. He rallied from a break down in the first set, consistently hitting his spots on serve while he pulled De Minaur around the court with his heavy forehand, striking an array of winners to lead.

However, after Nadal gained an early break at the start of the second set, momentum quickly shifted as De Minaur started to time the ball cleanly to force the Spaniard back. The Australian began to find great depth on return, locking down from the baseline to enjoy success on Nadal’s serve and level.

With a third set left to decide the clash, it was De Minaur who found a way, gaining the decisive break in the 11th game before holding his nerve to triumph. The 23-year-old let out a roar following his win before he embraced Nadal at the net.

Maddison Inglis will aim to double Australia’s lead in the Group D tie when she faces Nuria Parrizas Diaz in the last match of the day in Sydney. Neither Spain or Australia can qualify for the City Finals, with both nations falling to Great Britain.

World No. 27 Martina Trevisan fought off an inspired performance from World No. 321 Malene Helgo to deliver an early 1-0 lead for Italy over Norway on Day 5 of the United Cup in Brisbane. The 29-year-old Italian needed more than three hours to dispatch the Norwegian, winning 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 to post her first win of the season.

Lorenzo Musetti will look to extend Italy’s lead in the second singles match of the day when he faces Viktor Durasovic. 

Having defeated Brazil 3-2 in its opening tie, Italy needs a victory over Norway to advance to the Brisbane City Finals. If Norway can engineer an upset over the fifth seeds, Brazil will finish at the top of Group E and advance to Wednesday’s City Finals.

Helgo, who made her WTA Tour debut in her opening loss to Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, gave the heavily favoured Italians a scare. Behind her phenomenal ball-striking from the baseline, the 23-year-old played well above her sub-300 ranking to build an early 5-2 lead over Trevisan. 

But the 2022 French Open semi-finalist dug in to pull off a gritty comeback to take the opening set. Trevisan used her physicality and court vision to extend the points and shrink the court for Helgo, who began to misfire under pressure. The Italian saved two set points en route to running off five consecutive games to take the first set.

Undeterred, Helgo again built an early lead on the Italian veteran in the second set. This time she would not relinquish it. The final set was another see-saw set, as Helgo clawed her way back from a 4-1 deficit to level at 4-4 before Trevisan broke her one last time to seal the hard-fought win after three hours and two minutes.

The first match of the season for Tomislav Brkic and Gonzalo Escobar will certainly be a memorable one. The unseeded duo eliminated Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil 4-6, 6-3, 10-5 to reach the second round of the Adelaide International 1.

The standing-room-only crowd backed Djokovic, with several fans waving Serbian flags and encouraging the No. 1 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. But Brkic and Escobar remained calm under pressure, saving six of the seven break points they faced in their one-hour, 29-minute victory.

Djokovic and Pospisil had their share of high moments in the clash, including an impressive volleying display early in the second set, which led to a team chest bump. But they fell behind early in the Match Tie-break and never recovered.

This was Djokovic’s first doubles match since last year’s Laver Cup, where he partnered Matteo Berrettini past Alex de Minaur and Jack Sock. The World No. 1 will now turn his focus to his first singles match of the year against Frenchman Constant Lestienne.

Taylor Fritz fired Team United States into a 1-0 lead against Team Germany at the United Cup Monday when he moved past World No. 12 Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-4 in Sydney.

In a dominant display on Ken Rosewall Arena, the World No. 9 produced a strong serving performance, winning 96 per cent (26/27) of points behind his first delivery. He outmanoeuvred Zverev with his accurate ballstriking, pulling the two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion around the court throughout the 64-minute clash.

The 25-year-old raced out of the blocks, winning the first five games as he stepped inside the baseline to ruthlessly finish points. He then kept up his intensity in the second set to defeat Zverev, who was competing for just the second time since June when he tore three ligaments in his right ankle during his Roland Garros semi-final clash against Rafael Nadal.

View Host City Finals Qualifying Scenarios

With his victory, the 2022 Indian Wells champion Fritz has improved to 3-4 in his ATP Head2Head series against Zverev. Fritz also holds a 2-0 record on the new season, after defeating Jiri Lehecka in his opening match.

Madison Keys will look to double her nation’s lead when she plays Jule Niemeier in the second match of the Group C tie. The United States is looking to earn its second win at the mixed-teams event and advance to the City Final, having downed Team Czech Republic 4-1. Germany lost its opening tie against Czech Republic 2-3.

If USA defeats Germany or loses 2-3 to Germany, USA will qualify for the City Final.

So much for easing into the new year.

In his first match of the season, Stefanos Tsitsipas found himself in a rollicking match with Grigor Dimitrov at the United Cup. It was, appropriately, decided in a third-set tiebreak.

“I stayed calm, I stayed well composed,” Tsitsipas said after his win. “In these moments, you have just got to stay in the moment. You cannot start predicting or thinking about the future. I managed that extremely well. I was able to serve big first serves. I didn’t let myself get back on defence, very rarely, and these moments define me.”

Indeed, they do. For that is how Tsitsipas carved out a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) victory, which helped stake top-seeded Greece to a 4-1 win over Bulgaria in Perth. It was an exceptionally clean match, with Tsitsipas saving eight of nine break points and winning just two more points than the determined Dimitrov.

On Monday, there is another stout challenge: David Goffin of Belgium — as Greece (1-0) tries to complete a clean sweep in Group A. The former World No. 7 had some nice results last year, winning his 300th career match on the way to his sixth ATP Tour title in Marrakech, and beating World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in Astana.

This is the pair’s seventh ATP Head2Head meeting, with Tsitsipas holding a 4-2 edge. Still, they haven’t played in more than three years.

Tsitsipas also won a United Cup mixed doubles match with Maria Sakkari, who earlier was a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Viktoriya Tomova. The two Greeks have a history in Perth, going back to the 2019 Hopman Cup, when they managed surprising victories against Roger Federer (paired with Belinda Bencic) and Serena Williams (with Frances Tiafoe).

“As Team Greece, I think we have never been stronger,” Tsitsipas said. “We have a lineup of great players. We are extremely collaborative between each other. I think that is something that will give us big chances this year to start this first edition of the United Cup, and be part of history in a way.”

It isn’t all just tennis. There is this conundrum to solve regarding the Greek specialty of sizzling skewer delights.

“We are still trying to figure out which place has better souvlaki: Perth, Melbourne, or Sydney,” Tsitsipas said, smiling. “So that has occupied a big portion of our conversations. We are trying to spot the differences.”

Keys Loving Life Down Under

Maybe it’s the summer right out of the box that Australia offers each January. Perhaps it’s the peace of mind that comes with a fresh start. Or, it might be because her older sister is named… Sydney.

Whatever the reason, Madison Keys has absolutely thrived Down Under.

“I love playing here,” she said last week. “Whether it’s the people, I like playing in the heat at the start of the year. It’s fast and bouncy. It suits my game really well. I’m hoping to kind of be able to do that again this year, have a good start to my year.”

It couldn’t have started any better. Keys took care of Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-3 as part of the United States’ 4-1 victory over the Czech Republic. On Monday, she and teammate Taylor Fritz will try to produce another singles sweep in Sydney against the other opponent in Group C, Germany. Fritz will meet Alexander Zverev, who will be playing his second competitive singles match since injuring his ankle in the Roland Garros semi-finals. 

A victory over Germany (0-1) would win Group C for the United States.

The big-hitting Keys burst into the semi-finals of the Australian Open in 2015 at the age of 19. She reached the quarter-finals three years later, and last year she won her first five matches in Melbourne before falling to eventual champion Ashleigh Barty in the semis. The week before, she won her sixth career title in Adelaide. Her 25-9 record at the Australian Open is the best of her major efforts.

Keys will square off against Jule Niemeier, a player who poses a formidable challenge. She has a similar, bruising power game to Keys, and she’s coming off the best season of her career. Niemeier won 39 of 60 matches in 2022 and reached the fourth round of the US Open before losing to eventual champion Iga Swiatek.

These two have never met.

Also In Action

Poland’s Iga Swiatek and Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic will square off in the opening match of a winner-takes-all tie which will decide Group B in Brisbane. In the same city, Italy needs a win against the eliminated Norway to advance at Brazil’s expense. Team Italy will turn to Lorenzo Musetti and Martina Trevisan on Monday.

In Perth, France and Croatia will battle it out to win Group F. The tie begins with two intriguing singles matchups: Alize Cornet and Donna Vekic will open play in the evening session, followed by a meeting between Arthur Rinderknech and Borna Coric.

Rafael Nadal will look to bounce back from a three-set loss to Cameron Norrie as he seeks his first win of the 2023 season against Australia’s Alex de Minaur in Sydney. While prize money and Pepperstone ATP Rankings points are on offer, neither Spain nor Australia can advance from Group D, with Norrie’s Great Britain confirmed as group winners with a 2-0 record.

City Final qualification scenarios

Brisbane
Group B: The winner of Poland vs. Switzerland will qualify.
Group E: If Italy defeats Norway, Italy will qualify. If Norway defeats Italy, Brazil will qualify.

Perth
Group A: If Greece defeats Belgium or loses 3-2 to Belgium, Greece will qualify. If Belgium defeats Greece 4-1 or 5-0, Belgium will qualify.
Group F: The winner of France vs. Croatia will qualify.

Sydney
Group C: If the U.S. defeats Germany or loses 2-3 to Germany, the U.S. will qualify. If Germany defeats the U.S. 4-1 or 5-0, Germany will qualify.
Group D: Great Britain has already qualified. 

United Cup: Day 5 Order of play (local time)

Sydney, Ken Rosewall Arena

United States (1-0) vs. Germany (0-1) (Group C)
Taylor Fritz (USA) vs. Alexander Zverev (GER), 12 noon
Madison Keys (USA) vs. Jule Niemeier (GER), to follow

Spain (0-1) vs. Australia (0-1) (Group D)
Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. Alex de Minaur (AUS), 7 p.m.
Nuria Parrizas Diaz (ESP) vs. Maddison Inglis (AUS), to follow

Perth, RAC Arena

Greece (1-0) vs. Belgium (0-1) (Group A)
Despina Papamichail (GRE) vs. Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL), 12 noon
Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs. David Goffin (BEL), to follow

France (1-0) vs. Croatia (1-0) (Group F)
Alize Cornet (FRA) vs. Donna Vekic (CRO), 6 p.m.
Arthur Rinderknech (FRA) vs. Borna Coric (CRO), to follow

Brisbane, Pat Rafter Arena

Italy (1-0) vs. Norway (0-1) (Group E)
Martina Trevisan (ITA) vs. Malene Helgo (NOR), 1 p.m.
Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) vs. Viktor Durasovic (NOR), to follow

Poland (1-0) vs. Switzerland (1-0) (Group B)
Iga Swiatek (POL) vs. Belinda Bencic (SWI), 7 p.m.
Daniel Michalski (POL) vs. Marc-Andrea Huesler (SWI), to follow