Men's tennis- for fans; by a fan

Watching Alex de Minaur lose is just as inspiring as watching him win; just as he wins fighting, he goes down so, too.

After coming back from 2-4 in the third set versus Dan Evans, at 5-6, de Minaur saved four match points. The first one was a magnificent passing shot. The second a forehand winner down the line worthy of your most aggressive baseliner. The third, a one two punch, a second serve out wide and then knocking away the short ball for a winner. The fourth, an ace out wide. If he was going down, he would go down swinging. De Minaur always looks like he knows exactly what he is going it and he can do many different things and looks impressive doing them all.

The two played one of those tiebreaks: winner after winner; near winners bettered by actual ones; line painting or misses by the merest of margins. Evans prevailed, one winner after the other from 2-2- a service winner, a backhand down the line winner, a classic lure them in to the net and then pass them winner, a backhand volley winner all topped off with a service winner to take the tiebreak 7-2.

Dan Evans has had an excellent ATP Cup. The talented all courter still has time to fulfill his potential- a top 20 player, at least, even one who could live on the edge of the top 10- and seems to have used this tournament as a statement of intention. With his slice, depth of shot on the forehand and careful placement, lobs, careful approach shots and sound volleys, he has a classic but rare game not many players are equipped to deal with.

Evans’ victory was not enough to get Britain through. Nick Kyrgios soundly beat Cameron Norrie and Kyrgios and de Minaur edged Murray and Salisbury 18-16 in the final set breaker.

In the semis, Australia will face Russia.

In the Russia Vs Argentina tie, Khachanov withstood a second set fightback from Guido Pella while Daniil Medvedev had to deal with the ever ready for a fight Diego Schwartzman.

The Russian won an entertaining and well contested match in three sets, and from a match with these two you would expect nothing less.

Things got fiery, too, with the two men arguing at the end of set 1 and Medvedev being given a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct when he would not stop arguing with Schwartzman and his team despite the umpire getting down off his chair to intervene, and then a point penalty after Medvedev hit the umpire’s chair with his racket after being broken at 3-3 in set 2 and then taking up the early code violation with the umpire.

Medvedev will rise back to world No.4 now, overtaking Dominic Thiem, and be seeded in the top four for the Australian Open.

Grade A: You can’t do much better than the Evans-de Minaur match. That alone warrants an A.

Nick Kyrgios left his mark on the ATP Cup beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6, 6-7, 7-6. The Australian was bought in as a replacement for Alex de Minaur who was being rested for precautionary measures after his efforts versus Sascha Zverev and Denis Shapovalov. I was not aware teams could pick and choose who they wanted to play from their top 3. I thought that was why Reilly Opelka had been so critical of the event- as the US No.3, ranked 39, he would miss out on ranking points and prize money opportunities while world No.2s from countries with less tennis depth would have those chances.

Picking Kyrgios was the smart move. He has beaten Tsistsipas in their only encounter, another tight one back in Washington last season. Meanwhile Tsitsipas led de Minaur 3-0.

Kyrgios, the Australian No.2, had been sitting out his matches with No.3 Milman taking his place. Because de Minaur was injured, Kyrgios was now the No.1, and back healed, he took to the court to go shot-maker to shot-maker with the Greek.

Points were over quickly, both players attacking. It really was a shot makers delight.

It was also a meme-lovers, one, too. Kyrgios did not oblige, though; it was all the Greek. Tsitsipas, on losing the first set, threw his racket, physically injuring his father who was sitting courtside and who did not waste time moving to a seat at the back of the team seating area. Tsitsipas’ mother was not afraid to confront her son, though. She roundly chastised him and then left the court in disgust and a meme was born.

La scène de la raquette… Vraiment pas normal. pic.twitter.com/LFPksnOm7t

— Stefanos Tsitsipas 🇫🇷 (@TsitsipasFR) January 7, 2020

She came back for more, too, as Tsitsipas received treatment from the trainer, the Greek getting it from all sides. He was lucky to just receive a point penalty, too. It could have been a default, but this being the ATP Cup, anything goes, especially if it keeps the crowds entertained.

Kyrgios won the match, much to the man he stood in for de Minaur’s delight. The Australian is as vociferous a supporter as he is a player.

This tournament’s other parent destroyer, Sascha Zverev, suffered another loss, this time to Denis Shapovalov, 2-6, 2-6. This time there were 7 double faults and a 29% second serve percentage. For Zverev, the nightmare of the ATP Cup is likely over with Germany third in their group. Where he goes next is anyone’s guess. A week and a half might not be enough to work out that service game, but it’s better than his previous form of no practice at all (he himself admitted he did not pick up a racket until arriving in Brisbane).

Other notes of the day are:

• Goffin defeated Dimitrov 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, picking up only his second win in ten matches versus the Bulgarian.
• Michail Pervolarakis, ranked 486, took John Millman to a final set tiebreaker. Pervolarakis lost 6-4, 1-6, 6-7 (1) and was unable to make anything of the final set tiebreaker, but he won’t forget the ATP Cup for all the right reasons and it will be interesting to see if there is any positive impact on his game and fortunes.
• 417th ranked Dimitar Kuzmanov defeated Steve Darcis, ranked 200 and who retires after this Australian Open, 6-0, 6-3.
• Only 3 of the day’s 12 singles matches went the distance. Two of those were in the same tie, Australia Vs Greece.

Grade C+. Kyrgios versus Tsitsipas is always going to be entertaining. Other than that, though, the tournament is starting to wear thin quality and interest wise on day 5 and is starting to drag. The quarter-finals seem a long way off and tomorrow feels a little like the last day of the ATP WTF feels with most of the group qualifiers pretty much decided.

The tennis scoring system is one of the best in sport, not limited by time and only limited by a player’s skills and appetite for the fight, and Denis Novak showed us why it pays to stay in a match despite all the mental baggage that must come with losing the first set to love. Guido Pella is one of the most solid players on tour, but he was not able to maintain his initial level in the match- very few players follow up a love set with an equally dominating second set as levels fluctuate so much on both sides of the net. Novak took charge of both the second and third sets at the business ends to win 0-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Herbert Hurkacz did manage to dominate both sets he won versus Borna Coric, 6-2, 6-2. The Pole was always a contender to beat Coric but to defeat him in such commanding fashion came as a surprise. Coric did spend a lot of emotional and physical energy beating Thiem, so there could have been some element of a let down, and he was never able to reproduce those heightened emotions versus the ever methodical and focused Hurkacz. The Pole had a terrific serving day- 9 aces, 84% of first serves won and 73 of  2^nd, and did not face a break point. He had a fine returning day, too, breaking 4 times.

Benoit Paire got into a tussle with Dusan Lajovic, winning in three sets. The Frenchman blew a set and a break lead then a couple of mini breaks and match points in the tiebreak and did not hide his self disgust as he spat on the court and smashed his rackets. I don’t usually care for racket breakers, or Paire, but there is no denying such emotional outbursts create atmosphere and can give a match an edge.

Other points of interest of the day:

Thiem and Schwartzman got into it in their match, one of those straight setters with the tone and urgency of a match going the distance. Great rallies. You would be happy with this match in the second week of a Major.

Of the 12 singles matches today, only 3 went the distance. Of those 18 sets from 9 straight setters, only two sets went past 6-4. There will always be some predictable and bad match ups- Novak Djokovic and Gael Monfils an example with Djokovic winning 6-3, 6-2 and getting his 16th win of 16 matches- but this tournament also throws up some big mismatches- Marin Cilic Vs 448th Kacper Zuk (Zuk did really well considering, losing 6-7, 4-6) and Roberto Bautista Agut versus unranked Franco Roncadelli. I am not sure how I would feel if I, someone who is not interested in doubles, paid to watch Spain vs Uruguay and got delivered Bautista Agut rout an unranked player in 57 minutes and then Nadal routine Pablo Cuevas in 73 minutes, losing three games and facing a single break point the whole match.

Gaston Gaudio looks incredible.

Grade: B-. For me, personally, while some of the tennis was entertaining, none of the matches really gripped me. There was enough for this to be a satisfactory day at the tennis with some interesting examples of what makes tennis such a great sport, but this was balanced out by the inherent flaws of this format with some very unbalanced match ups.