ATP Cup 2020: Day 2 schedule, preview, and players to watch out for
The day two of the 2020 ATP Cup will see the top two men's singles players in the world get on the court of the first time in this new year. Rafael Nadal's Spain will be taking on Georgia in a Group B tie, while Novak Djokovic-led Serbia is up against South Africa in Group A.
All the 24 teams would have played their opening round robin ties at the end of the day two. 12 teams would be playing their ties on the second day and would like to join the winners of the day one. Apart from Spain, Georgia, Serbia and South Africa, the other teams who would play their matches are France, Chile, Japan, Uruguay, Argentina, Poland, Austria and Croatia.
Group A - France vs Chile (Morning)
Brisbane will be host to the first Group A match between France and Chile. The French side boast of Gael Monfils and Benoit Paire for their singles ties, while the 2019 ATP Finals doubles winner Nicolas Mahut will be one of the doubles player along with Edouard Roger-Vasselin. They are clearly the favourites to win against team Chile.
Paire will be facing world number 77 Nicholas Jarry in the first singles match. The Frenchman leads 2-0 against Jarry and would like that record to become 3-0. It will be the first time that Monfils will be up against Cristian Garin in the second singles tie. The Chilean duo will then pair up to face Mahut and Edouard in the doubles match.
Group A - Serbia vs South Africa (Evening)
The second ranked player in the world, Novak Djokovic, will face Kevin Anderson in the singles match before teaming up with Viktor Troicki for the doubles. After losing in the group stage of the 2019 ATP Finals, Djokovic would be looking to bounce back and start the ATP tour with a win against Anderson. Dusan Lajovic will play the other singles tie against Llyod Harris.
Djokovic and Troicki will face Raven Klassen and Ruan Roelofse in the doubles encounter.
Group B - Japan vs Uruguay (Morning)
Yoshihito Nishioka will lead Japan in what would be the tie of the underdogs in Group B. They will be up against Uruguay in Perth. Go Soeda will start the proceedings for Japan as he faces Martin Cuevas in the first singles match. Nishioka will then play against Pablo Cuevas in the second singles match, with the doubles match being played against Toshihide Matsui / Ben McLachlan and Martín Cuevas / Pablo Cuevas.
Group B - Spain vs Georgia (Evening)
World number one Rafael Nadal will be in action as he takes on Nikoloz Basilashvili in aGroup B match in Perth. Nadal has a three-match unbeaten streak against Nikoloz and would be looking to extend it at the ATP Cup. The Spanish team will be in high spirits after their Davis Cup 2019 win in November.
Roberto Bautista Agut will open the tie against Aleksandre Metreveli as Nadal takes the stage for the second singles match. He will then team up with Pablo Carreño Busta in the doubles to face Aleksandre Bakshi / George Tsivadze.
Group E - Argentina vs Poland (Morning)
Diego Schwartzman will be headlining the Sydney ties on the second day of the ATP Cup as Argentina will face Poland in the opening matches. Diego's teammate Guido Pella will face Kamil Majchrzak in the first singles match after which the world number 15 will take on Hubert Hurkacz.
In the doubles match, the Argentine pair of Máximo González / Andrés Molteni will be up against Hubert Hurkacz / Łukasz Kubot.
Group E - Austria vs Croatia (Evening)
Marin Cilic will be in action as he takes on Austria's Dennis Novak in the first singles match between Croatia and Austria. The runner up of the 2019 ATP Finals, Dominic Thiem, will then take the court to play Borna Ćorić in the second singles match.
The doubles specialist from Croatia Ivan Dodig will team up with Nikola Mektić to take on Oliver Marach / Jürgen Melzer in the doubles encounter.
All the morning ties will start at 10 AM as per their respective time zones, while the evening session will start 05:30 PM.