Australia First to Qualify for ATP Cup Quarterfinals in Sydney
(January 6, 2020) Team Australia is the first team to qualify for the ATP Cup Final Eight after defeating Canada yesterday and taking an unbeatable lead in Group F.
Australia will play Greece Tuesday night in Brisbane before their quarterfinal on Thursday morning in Sydney against the winner of Group C (Belgium, Bulgaria or Great Britain).
Yesterday, Australian No.1 Alex de Minaur rallied from a set down to defeat Canada’s Denis Shapovalov 6-7(6) 6-4 6-2 to put the host country in qualification position.
“I managed to turn things around, get back into a positive mindset, get my energy back and was able to turn it around. So obviously very proud,” De Minaur said.
“I’ve got an amazing team and an amazing captain, coaches, my teammates, they have all got my back.
“On the change of ends I had plenty of words of encouragement to let me know that they’re all there behind me and they all had my back, so obviously I’m playing for more than myself and I wanted to do everything in my power to try and get a point for Australia.”
De Minaur also came back from a set down against Germany’s world No.7 Alexander Zverev to clinch Australia’s opening tie.
Earlier, John Millman defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4 6-2 to put Australia in the lead at Pat Rafter Arena.
Aussies John Peers and Chris Guccione finished off the sweep with a 3-6 7-6(3) [10-8] win against Auger-Aliassime and Adil Shamasdin.
FINAL EIGHT QUALIFICATION – KEEP AN EYE ON
In Group A Serbia will qualify as group winner if they defeat France and South Africa defeats Chile.
France will qualify as group winner if France defeats Serbia and Chile defeats South Africa.
No teams from Group B or Group E can qualify on Monday.
Read more on ATP Cup Group Standings HERE.
About the ATP Cup
The ATP Cup is an annual 24-country team competition featuring AUD $22 million prize money and a maximum of 750 singles and 250 doubles ATP Rankings points. The ATP Cup is staged in partnership with Tennis Australia. The ATP Cup will begin the new season and in 2020 will run from 3 to 12 January. The tournament will be played over six days in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney. The eight surviving teams will advance to the Final Eight in Sydney.
