(Reuters) – The third version of the team-based ATP Cup will kick off the brand new males’s tennis season on Saturday, its depleted field offering a style of what the game will appear to be with out the ‘Big Three’ of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
For completely different causes the trio, who’re tied for a males’s document 20 main titles, is not going to be in motion when the $10 million event, comparable in format to the Davis Cup, is performed in two venues on the Sydney Olympic Park.
Organisers didn’t cite any motive after they introduced on Wednesday that top-ranked Djokovic has pulled out nL1N2TE0CF of the Serbia group, which gained the inaugural version in 2020.
While the 40-year-old Federer was dominated out after present process a number of knee surgical procedures, Spaniard Nadal has been recovering after testing optimistic for the novel coronavirus.
World quantity 5 Andrey Rublev, who was a part of Russia’s title-winning facet on this 12 months’s version, and 2020 U.S. Open winner Dominic Thiem are different high names lacking.
The withdrawal of Thiem, who’s planning his return subsequent month from a long-term wrist harm, and Dennis Novak noticed Austria fail the eligibility standards they usually have been changed by France within the event.
The third version of the ATP Cup can have 16 nations, up from this 12 months’s 12-team occasion however nonetheless behind the 24 sides that featured in its 2020 debut when Djokovic-led Serbia clinched the trophy.
“It’s by no means the identical when you’ve got No. 1 in your group and you do not have him. It’s an enormous distinction,” Dusan Lajovic, who will probably be Serbia’s high participant in Djokovic’s absence, mentioned on Thursday.
“Obviously when Novak is within the group the expectations get a lot larger. Right now perhaps we’re on the sideline a bit of bit, and it may very well be good for us, it may very well be dangerous, we’ll see. (But) Definitely completely different.”
In Djokovic’s absence, world quantity two Daniil Medvedev would be the high attract Sydney and lead Russia’s title defence with runners-up Italy as soon as once more wanting sturdy with two top-10 gamers in Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner of their squad.
The event, which sees the 16 groups divided into 4 teams with the winners advancing to the semi-finals, will present a type information of the contenders for the Australian Open, which is able to start at Melbourne Park from Jan. 17.
With Federer, Nadal and Djokovic lacking from the big-ticket occasion, it is going to additionally present a glimpse into the future.
“I assume that is how it’s going to be usually in a couple of years’ time, probably perhaps in three years’ time,” mentioned Greek world quantity 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas.
“So getting used to it earlier, it is just about a brand new actuality. Let’s see how tennis works out with out the highest three. I actually need to see which gamers are going to prevail at this level.”
(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; enhancing by Ken Ferris)
