John Millman got a late call to fill in for Nick Kyrgios yesterday and got Australia off to a winning start on his home court against Canada.
Later, Alex de Minaur secured the match when he rallied from a set and a break down to beat Denis Shapovalov 6-7 (8/6), 6-4, 6-2 at the Pat Rafter Arena.
“I would love to take care of things a bit easier, but you kind of got to play the cards you’re dealt,” said De Minaur, who did a little dance on court to celebrate his win. “I had chances in the first set. I probably didn’t do too well mentally after that. I went through a little bit of a rough patch ... but I managed to turn things around. So obviously very proud.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
Australia also won the doubles to complete a sweep and, with that, moved atop Group F in the new ATP Cup, a 24-team tournament that is starting the southern summer for the first time.
Canada were 1-1 after opening with victory over Greece.
The six group winners and the two best second-place teams advance to the playoffs in Sydney from Thursday, and Australia have a good chance of making it.
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Kyrgios pulled out of his scheduled match against Felix Auger-Aliassime in Brisbane because of a sore back. No. 48-ranked Millman stepped in to win 6-4, 6-2.
In Sydney, Bulgaria made it two wins from two in Group C, following up their opening 2-1 win over Britain with a more comfortable result against Moldova.
In Perth, Italy needed victory in the doubles to beat Norway 2-1. Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini, the 2015 Australian Open doubles champions, combined to beat Casper Ruud and Viktor Durasovic 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).
Photo: EPA-EFE
Ruud, who led Norway’s opening win over the US, had beaten Fognini 6-2, 6-2 in the second singles match to level the tie after Stefano Travaglia’s 6-1, 6-1 win over Viktor Durasovic gave Italy an early lead.
Grigor Dimitrov had a 6-2, 6-3 win over Radu Albot to secure Bulgaria an unbeatable 2-0 lead after Dimitar Kuzmanov beat Alexander Cozbinov 6-1, 7-5. Albot led Moldova to a 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) win in the doubles to make the final margin 2-1.
Dimitrov, the playing captain for Bulgaria, said the winning start was no surprise to him.
Photo: AFP
“Coming into this thing, I knew that if we come together, we have a great opportunity,” he said. “I know I have to not only believe in myself now, but I need to believe in the players that are with me. My only goal was, and I’m honest on that, was just to put them together, to make sure we practice together, to make sure they learn something from me, to make sure they are surrounded by the top players.”
In late games on Saturday, Novak Djokovic fended off Kevin Anderson 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (8/6) to secure Serbia’s win over South Africa in Group A.
Djokovic fed off the large Serbian crowd in Brisbane, but also had to remonstrate with them when things got tense in the first tiebreaker, as spectators called out during rallies on consecutive points.
Djokovic yelled toward the stands before holding his finger to his lips to demand quiet.
The chair umpire also intervened to ask the crowd to “show good sportsmanship.”
“That was the Serbian crowd that was a little bit too excited,” Djokovic said. “It was in the heat of the moment and I’m sorry if I offended anybody, but it happened a couple of points in a row — I really didn’t need them interfering in the point, but I’m really thankful for their support. I thought the atmosphere was Davis Cup-like.”
Rafael Nadal had an easier time clinching Spain’s win over Georgia, beating Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3, 7-5 in Perth after Roberto Bautista Agut crushed No. 678-ranked Aleksandre Metreveli 6-0, 6-0.
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