SYDNEY (Reuters) – Serbian ruling champions, led by Novak Djokovic, number one in the world, will play Germany and Canada at the ATP Cup group stage in Melbourne next week after the draw to do on Friday.
The men’s team tournament began for the first time in cities around Australia last year but will be rescued and played at Melbourne Park only from February 1-5 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It will, however, give players their first competitive tour after the 14 days of hotel quarantine they had to get ahead of the Australian Open, which starts on February 8th.
Djokovic led Serbia to the starting title with a win over Spain at Rafa Nadal in Sydney last year but his path to return to the finals was not helped by a tough Group A draw.
Alexander Zverev will lead the German team, and Denis Shapovalov will also be the standout player in the Canadian side with Milos Raonic.
The winning team from each of the four groups will advance to the first round of the semi-finals.
The Nadal team in Spain will play Greece and Australia in Group B, an easier draw as the Greeks have little depth under number six in the world Stefanos Tsitsipas and the guests will be without Nick Kyrgios.
Kyrgios paid the price for a year of activity due to COVID-19 concerns when its global rating fell to 46, leaving Alex de Minaur to lead the home team.
Since then Kyrgios has dropped another place to 47th.
Austria’s Dominic Thiem was the top seed in Group C and will face Italy and France, while Russia favor the Group D top ahead of Argentina and Japan.
Russia are the only team with two top 10 players on their side in Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, while Argentina and Japan are led by world number one Diego Schwartzman and world number 41 respectively Kei Nishikori.
Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, edited by Peter Rutherford