Rafael Nadal drawn in the same group as Daniil Medvedev & Andrey Rublev at Davis Cup Finals, Novak Djokovic drawn with Dominic Thiem
The dates and groups for the 2021 Davis Cup finals have been finalized. The ITF confirmed on Monday that the event, which was won by Rafael Nadal's Spain in 2019, will be held this year in Madrid, Innsbruck and Turin from 25 November to 5 December.
The news of Davis Cup returning would be uplifting in itself for tennis fans, given how COVID-19 completely wiped out the tournament in 2020. In addition, there could be some thrilling match-us in store as legends like Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic could face the Next Gen stars in the group stage itself.
Each city will host two of the six groups, with defending champions Spain being joined by Russia and Ecuador at Madrid. That means Rafael Nadal could take on either Daniil Medvedev or Andrey Rublev in the top singles fixture of the tie, depending on which Russian is the higher-ranked player then.
Novak Djokovic's Serbia meanwhile find themselves in the toughest group, which will be hosted at Innsbruck - they have been pitted against Germany and Austria. In other words, Djokovic would likely have to play Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem, both of whom have beaten the Serb in the past.
That said, Novak Djokovic's teammates - the likes of Dusan Lajovic, Filip Krajinovic and Laslo Djere - can more than hold their own against anyone. These secondary players could well end up making the difference in the group fixtures, especially given the lack of depth in the German and Austrian teams.
Here is the full list of groups and cities for the 2021 Davis Cup Finals:
Madrid
Group A: Spain, Russia, Ecuador
Group B: Canada, Kazakhstan, Sweden
Innsbruck
Group C: France, Great Britain, Czech Republic
Group F: Serbia, Germany, Austria
Turin
Group D: Croatia, Australia, Hungary
Group E: USA, Italy, Colombia
Davis Cup 2021 semis & finals to be held in Madrid, where Rafael Nadal & Spain had triumphed in 2019
After the group-stage matches are wrapped up, Innsbruck and Turin will get to host one quarterfinal tie each, while Madrid will host two. The Spanish capital will then host the semifinals and the final at the Estadio Manolo Santana.
Rafael Nadal had led his country to their sixth Davis Cup triumph at the same venue in 2019, where Spain beat Canada 2-0 in the final. Nadal had also been declared the MVP of the tournament for his efforts.
The Spaniards couldn't get to defend their title last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but they would be eager to give their home fans more to cheer about in the 2021 finals.