Canada got the ATP Cup 2021 started last night with a loss against Serbia, championed by world number 1 Novak Djokovic.
Milos Raonic won his first match against Dusan Lajovic 6-4 6-4, putting Canada at an early advantage in the matchup against fellow Group A opponents.
Next up was Denis Shapovalov, arguably Canada’s best men’s player, against Novak Djokvic. Last year’s ATP Cup’s best match featured Shapovalov vs. Djokovic, where the young Canadian had the opportunity to serve for the match in the third before losing in a tiebreak. Monday’s match saw Djokovic repeat his 2020 victory, where he bested Shapovalov 7-5, 7-5.
Thus, there was a deciding match to be played, a doubles game between Raonic/Shapovalov vs. Djokovic/Krajinovic. The Serbian partnership proved to strong for the Canadians who fell 7-5, 7-6 (4).
The ATP Cup is one of the only tournaments where Djokovic gets noticeable crowd support, as the large and loud band of Serbia supporters were integral to Djokovic and his team’s win in the inaugural ATP Cup last year, which culminated with a victory over Nadal’s Spain.
“It’s a pleasure to see them in such big numbers. Whenever they can, they show up,” Djokovic said. “Last year it was amazing. That was probably the best support outside of Belgrade that we ever had.
Russia swept Argentina with wins for Medvedev and Rublev while Spain only needed two matches to complete their win over Australia.
The match between Italy and Austria went into a deciding third match, where Berrettini/Foginini bested Thiem/Novak.
Canada plays again tonight versus Germany, headlined by Alexander Zverev (US Open finalist in 2020) and Jan-Lennard Struff.
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