ATP Cup Day 4 LIVE: Zverev, Struff win to keep Germany on semis track

ATP Cup Day 4 LIVE: Alexander Zverev, Struff win to keep Germany on semis track – Top seeds Alexander Zverev & Struff registered victories for Germany in ATP Cup Day 4 fixtures on Tuesday. While Zverev outclassed America’s Taylor Fritz, Struff got the better of John Isner after a tie-breaker. In other matches, Italy’s Matteo Berrettini saw off Ugo Humbert 6-4 7-6(6) in Group B while Jannik Sinner defeated Arthur Rinderknecht. Follow ATP Cup live updates on IsnideSport.IN

World No.2 Daniil Medvedev (Russia) & US Open sensation Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada will be in action later today.

ATP Cup Day 4 LIVE: Alexander Zverev, Struff win to keep Germany on semis track, Daniil Medvedev & Felix Auger-Aliassime to be in action later- Follow LIVE updates

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Alexander Zverev (GER) BEATS Taylor Fritz (USA)
Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) BEATS John Isner (USA)

World number three Alexander Zverev topped American Taylor Fritz 6-4 6-4 to keep alive Germany’s ATP Cup semi-final hopes on Tuesday, while Matteo Berrettini powered Italy to victory against France at the Sydney Super Dome.

After Jan-Lennard Struff survived a 34-ace onslaught from John Isner to prevail 7-6(7) 4-6 7-5, Zverev broke Fritz early in both sets before capitalising on a sixth match point en route to victory in the Group C tie.

The win moved Germany, who lost to Britain in their opener, to 1-1 in the group before they face Canada on Thursday.

“Until the last game it was a good level for my second match of year. It was very intense and hard hitting,” said Zverev, who will be gunning for glory at the Australian Open this month.

“The most important thing is that team Germany won and we gave ourselves the best chance to qualify for the semi-finals.”

Matteo Berrettini (ITA) BEAT Ugo Humbert (FRA)

World number seven Berrettini saw off Ugo Humbert 6-4 7-6(6) in Group B after Jannik Sinner had defeated Arthur Rinderknech 6-3 7-6(3).

Humbert had stunned Russian world number two Daniil Medvedev on Sunday and threatened another upset after forcing a tiebreak in the second set, but Berrettini dominated with his serve to clinch the tie for Italy.

“(It was) a really tough match, especially in these conditions. He’s a great server, a tricky player,” said Berrettini, who lost his opening singles match to Australian Alex de Minaur.

“I had to play my best tennis in the important moments to win the match… I’m really happy (with) my performance.”

U.S. Open champion Medvedev will take on De Minaur later on Tuesday as Russia continue the defence of their ATP Cup title against Australia.

Canadian Denis Shapovalov will face Britain’s Dan Evans while Felix Auger-Aliassime takes on Cameron Norrie in Group C in the other evening ties on Ken Rosewall Arena.

ATP Cup Day 4 LIVE: Alexander Zverev, Struff win to keep Germany on semis track, Daniil Medvedev & Felix Auger-Aliassime to be in action later- Follow LIVE updates

Group B (Qudos Bank Arena)

Roman Safiullin (RUS) vs James Duckworth (AUS)
Daniil Medvedev (RUS) vs Alex de Minaur (AUS)
Daniil Medvedev / Roman Safiullin (RUS) vs John Peers / Luke Saville (AUS)

Australia and Russia are the only teams with a chance of winning Group B on Tuesday. If Australia defeats Russia on Qudos Bank Arena during the night session and Italy overcomes France during the day session then Australia advances to the semi-finals in Sydney. However, if Russia beats Australia and France defeats Italy, then Russia wins the group. In Group C, no team can clinch a semi-final spot by winning their second tie. Although, should the United States defeat Germany and Great Britain beat Canada then Thursday’s the United States versus Great Britain becomes the deciding tie.

Last year, Medvedev said that World No. 112 Aslan Karatsev was Russia’s “secret weapon” en route to the ATP Cup crown. It proved correct as a few weeks later, Karatsev made his major breakthrough by reaching the Australian Open semi-finals. This time around Team Russia may have unearthed another diamond, Roman Safiullin, in its quest to retain the trophy. The World No. 167 wore one of Medvedev’s shirts in his 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over France’s Rinderknech on Sunday, and also in the doubles victory with Medvedev. Safiullin begins Group B play against Australia’s James Duckworth on Qudos Bank Arena, before Medvedev looks to extend his 3-0 ATP Head2Head record against De Minaur.

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Group C (Ken Rosewall Arena)

Denis Shapovalov (CAN) vs Dan Evans (GBR)
Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) vs Cameron Norrie (GBR)
Felix Auger-Aliassime / Denis Shapovalov (CAN) vs Jamie Murray / Joe Salisbury (GBR)

Can Liam Broady work his magic again? In Great Britain’s win over Germany on Day 2, there was plenty of banter and Daniel Evans ribbed the captain for his lack of encouragement at a changeover. Today, it’s Canada’s Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov in Group C on Ken Rosewall Arena.

Norrie came up short against Zverev in his first No. 1 singles match, but he can make amends against Canada’s captain Auger-Aliassime, who sits one spot higher than him at No. 12 in the ATP Rankings. Auger-Aliassime has won their two previous encounters at the 2019 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and last year, saving three match points in a 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 win at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. Shapovalov begins proceedings during the night session tie against Evans. They are tied 1-1 in their ATP Head2Head series.

(with inputs from Reuters)

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