Great Britain only qualified for the inaugural 24-team ATP Cup by virtue of Sir Andy Murray using his protected ranking of No 2 in the world, which the Scot has been afforded in his comeback from the two hip operations that have kept him off the singles court for most of the past two years.
Unfortunately, Murray is again sidelined with a pelvic injury which means he will not be making his Grand Slam comeback in the Australian Open later this month. It also leaves the British team looking short of quality having been drawn in the same group as Moldova, Bulgaria and Belgium. Moldova have replaced Switzerland, who didn’t have the required two players with an ATP singles ranking once Roger Federer withdrew.
ATP Tennis Betting at BetVictor
ATP Cup Group Stages Draw
GROUP A
SERBIA 1. Novak Djokovic 2. Dusan Lajovic 3. Nikola Milojevic 4. Nikola Cacic 5. Viktor Troicki. Captain: Nenad Zimonjic.
FRANCE 1. Gael Monfils 2. Benoit Paire 3. Gilles Simon 4. Nicolas Mahut 5. Edouard Roger-Vasselin. Captain: Gilles Simon.
SOUTH AFRICA 1. Kevin Anderson 2. Lloyd Harris 3. Ruan Roelofse 4. Raven Klaasen 5. Khololwam Montsi. Captain: Jeff Coetzee.
CHILE 1. Cristian Garin 2. Nicolas Jarry 3. Alejandro Tabilo 4. Hans Podlipnik-Castillo 5. Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera. Captain: Paul Capdeville.
GROUP B
SPAIN 1. Rafael Nadal 2. Roberto Bautista Agut 3. Pablo Carreno Busta 4. Albert Ramos-Vinolas 5. Feliciano Lopez. Captain: Francisco Roig.
JAPAN 1. Yoshihito Nishioka 2. Go Soeda 3. Ben McLachlan 4. Toshihide Matsui. Captain: Satoshi Iwabuchi.
GEORGIA 1. Nikoloz Basilashvili 2. Aleksandre Metreveli 3. George Tsivadze 4. Aleksandre Bakshi 5. Zura Tkemaladze. Captain: David Kvernadze.
URUGUAY 1. Pablo Cuevas 2. Martin Cuevas 3. Ariel Behar 4. Franco Roncadelli 5. Juan Martin Fumeaux. Captain: Felipe Maccio.
GROUP C
BELGIUM 1. David Goffin 2. Steve Darcis 3. Kimmer Coppejans 4. Joran Vliegen 5. Sander Gille. Captain: Steve Darcis.
GREAT BRITAIN 1. Daniel Evans 2. Cameron Norrie 3. James Ward 4. Joe Salisbury 5. Jamie Murray. Captain: Tim Henman.
BULGARIA 1. Grigor Dimitrov 2. Dimitar Kuzmanov 3. Alexender Lazarov 4. Alexander Donski 5. Adrian Andreev. Captain: Grigor Dimitrov.
MOLDOVA 1. Radu Albot 2. Alexander Cozbinov 3. Egor Matvievici 4. Dmitrii Baskov. Captain: Vladimir Albot.
GROUP D
RUSSIA 1. Daniil Medvedev 2. Karen Khachanov 3. Teymuraz Gabashvili 4. Ivan Nedelko 5. Konstantin Kravchuk. Captain: Marat Safin.
ITALY 1. Fabio Fognini 2. Stefano Travaglia 3. Simone Bolelli 4. Paolo Lorenzi 5. Alessandro Giannessi. Captain: Vincenzo Santopadre.
UNITED STATES 1. John Isner 2. Taylor Fritz 3. Tommy Paul 4. Rajeev Ram 5. Austin Krajicek. Captain: David Macpherson.
NORWAY 1. Casper Ruud 2. Viktor Durasovic 3. Lukas Hellum Lilleengen 4. Herman Hoeyeraal 5. Leyton Rivera. Captain: Christian Ruud.
GROUP E
AUSTRIA 1. Dominic Thiem 2. Dennis Novak 3. Sebastian Ofner 4. Oliver Marach 5. Jurgen Melzer. Captain: Thomas Muster.
CROATIA 1. Borna Coric 2. Marin Cilic 3. Viktor Galovic 4. Ivan Dodig 5. Nikola Mektic. Captain: Luka Kutanjac.
ARGENTINA 1. Diego Schwartzman 2. Guido Pella 3. Juan Ignacio Londero 4. Maximo Gonzalez 5. Andres Molteni. Captain: Gaston Gaudio.
POLAND 1. Hubert Hurkacz 2. Kamil Majchrzak 3. Kacper Zuk 4. Lukasz Kubot 5. Wojciech Marek. Captain: Marcin Matkowski.
GROUP F
GERMANY 1. Alexander Zverev 2. Jan-Lennard Struff 3. Mats Moraing 4. Kevin Krawietz 5. Andreas Mies. Captain: Boris Becker.
GREECE 1. Stefanos Tsitsipas 2. Michail Pervolarakis 3. Markos Kalovelonis 4. Petros Tsitsipas 5. Alexandros Skorilas. Captain: Apostolos Tsitsipas.
CANADA 1. Denis Shapovalov 2. Felix Auger-Aliassime 3. Steven Diez 4. Adil Shamasdin 5. Peter Polansky. Captain: Adriano Fuorivia.
AUSTRALIA 1. Alex de Minaur 2. Nick Kyrgios 3. John Millman 4. John Peers 5. Chris Guccione. Captain: Lleyton Hewitt.
BetVictor are offering 35/1 that Great Britain win the ATP Cup but the tournament will be played out under a cloud – quite literally.
Britain’s group matches are due to be played at the Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney but New South Wales is currently in a state of emergency with out-of-control bush fires having spread to the coast, causing thousands to be evacuated. The smoke has reduced air quality in Sydney to such an extent that experts will be closely monitoring players, officials and spectators for signs of distress.
Record temperatures could also be detrimental to players but British coach Tim Henman is hoping that his squad which consists of Dan Evans, Cameron Norrie, James Ward, Jamie Murray and his doubles partner, Joe Salisbury, will be able to concentrate on winning their matches, though the loss of Kyle Edmund in addition to Andy Murray is probably a fatal blow.
DOMINIC THIEM (AUT)© TENNIS PHOTO NETWORK
The format for the new ATP Cup consists of two singles matches, featuring the nominated No.1 and No.2 players from each team, then a doubles match. The singles matches are best-of-three tiebreak sets. The doubles matches are two sets and a match tiebreak in place of a third set if necessary. The winners of the six groups will progress to the quarter-finals, along with the two best-placed runners-up.
Unfortunately, the start of the ATP Cup has meant the end, for the time being at least, of the hugely-popular mixed Hopman Cup in Perth, which has been the traditional curtain-raiser for the ATP and WTA Tours for the past 20 years. Some of the ATP Cup group matches are taking place in Perth but organisers of the Hopman Cup are hoping to find a new venue city for their tournament in 2021.
Spain, spearheaded by Rafael Nadal, are the general 11/4 favourites. Novak Djokovic will play singles for Serbia, who are a best 13/2. Other countries prominent in the betting are Russia, who are 7/1 with BetVictor but could have been given an easier group draw with Italy and the USA both capable of making them work hard. Host nation Australia are also a best 7/1 but it will be up to captain Lleyton Hewitt to keep a check on the fiery Nick Kyrgios.
AUSTRIA look massively overpriced at 50/1.
While Croatia are probably favourites to win Group E, Dominic Thiem and his team-mates are a close-knit bunch who have been together for a while in Davis Cup. They’ve had a longer preparation than many for this tournament and everything would be up for grabs should they qualify for the knockout stages, though the wildfires make it questionable as to whether it’s a plus to be based in Sydney.
ATP Cup Current Best Odds
Spain 11/4
Serbia 13/2
Australia and Russia 7/1
Canada and Germany 10/1
France 11/1
USA and Croatia 16/1
Italy 20/1
Argentina 25/1
Belgium and Great Britain 35/1
Austria 50/1
Bulgaria 80/1
South Africa 90/1
Poland, Japan and Chile 100/1
Greece 125/1
Georgia 300/1
Moldova, Uruguay and Norway 400/1
(Odds correct at 10.30am January 2)
