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2020 ATP Cup Ken Rosewall Arena, Sydney Nick Kyrgios vs Roberto Bautista Agut |
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Alex de Minaur vs Rafael Nadal |
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Doubles match |
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The stakes are high tonight with Australia taking on Spain, at Ken Rosewall Arena, for a place in the ATP Cup final. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog from 6:30pm (AEDT).
We started with 24 teams and, with one semi final already decided, we are down to the remaining 3. Few would have doubted that Spain would have been there. Australia, however, are riding a wave of patriotic support and have deserved their place at this lofty stage.
We are only in the early days of 2020, but Nick Kyrgios and Alex De Minaur’s stunning doubles win over Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury will surely go down as one of the year’s sporting highlights for Australia.
The celebrations which followed only showed how much victory meant to this Australian team.
They moved through the group stages without losing a match, with Kyrgios, De Minaur and John Millman playing singles and Chris Guccione and John Peers playing doubles. For the deciding match against Great Britain, Lleyton Hewitt decided to go with Kyrgios and De Minaur, eventually proving the right decision.
To advance further though, they will need to overcome the current no 1, Rafael Nadal, and Spain. Led by Nadal and world no 10, Roberto Bautista Agut, Spain won all 9 matches in group play and 90% of sets played, an ATP Cup best.
However, their semi final against Belgium went down to the wire. For just the third time in 32 matches when representing Spain (excluding the Olympics), Nadal lost a singles match, this time to David Coffin in straight sets.
Down a set in the doubles, Nadal and Pablo Carreno Busta eventually prevailed 10-7 in the Match tie-break to progress to the semi final.
Prediction
Something happens when Nick Kyrgios pulls on an Australian shirt. He becomes a different player, more determined, more focussed, and the wins follow.
If Hewitt sticks to his top 2 ranked players, Kyrgios will play Bautista Agut and De Minaur will play Nadal. In front of a big Sydney crowd, I do expect Kyrgios and Nadal to record victories.
It then comes down to the doubles. This could go either way but, with one eye closed, I’m tipping Australia to book a place in the final on Sunday.
Australia to win 2-1
When: 6.30pm AEDT
Where: Ken Rosewall Arena, Sydney
TV: 9, 9Gem
Australia Squad
Alex De Minaur, Nick Kyrgios, John Millman, Chris Guccione, John Peers
Spain Squad
Rafael Nadal, Roberto Bautista Agut, Pablo Curreno Busta, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Feliciano Lopez
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