ATP Cup Players to Watch: Group A

The second edition of the ATP Cup is starting on Tuesday and features one of the strongest fields you’re likely to see outside of the Grand Slams. It’s a team event, with 12 nations vying for the top prize.

Here’s a look at the players who could have a major impact on their squad’s chances in Group A, consisting of Canada, Serbia and Germany. (All photos by Getty Images.)

CANADA: Denis Shapovalov

At the end of 2019, Shapovalov was one of the hottest players on tour with his first title; debut appearance in a Masters final; and a Davis Cup runner-up finish, the furthest Canada had ever gotten in that competition. That momentum carried over to the ATP Cup, when he won matches against Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, then pushed Novak Djokovic to a third-set tiebreak.

However, he wasn’t able to maintain that form and had a roller-coaster of a season, one in which he was expected to settle comfortably into the Top 10. Shapovalov has a dangerous teammate in Milos Raonic, but the Canadian No. 1 will have to put his last-season slump behind him for Canada to advance. Peter Polansky is a playing captain this year and the team is rounded out by world No. 178 Steve Diez.

SERBIA: Novak Djokovic

At the inaugural edition of the ATP Cup last year, then-world No. 2 Djokovic kicked off his attempt at a history-making season by leading Serbia to the title. Along the way, Djokovic won all six of his singles matches, with five of those victories coming against past, present and future members of the world’s Top 10.

Even though he has a solid squad with him again this year (Dusan Lajovic, Filip Krajinovic and Nikola Cacic), he still can’t falter as he’ll be counted for a near-guaranteed point in each battle. Djokovic might have to step in on the doubles court, too, like he did last year, winning both of his matches.

GERMANY: Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies

Over the past two years, the German duo has won its first four titles on the ATP Tour together. What’s most impressive about that statistic is that two of those victories came at Roland Garros, a feat that has established them as one of the best teams in the game right now. However, they have experienced bouts of inconsistency around their Roland Garros runs, including a 1-2 record in the event last year.

Germany, which features singles players Alexander Zverev and Jan-Lennard Struff, will be hard-pressed to sweep the other nations in their group in singles, so the contests could come down to Krawietz and Mies, the highest-ranked doubles team at the ATP Cup.