This fledgling ATP Cup, not unlike the third round of the 149-year-old FA Cup, is rich with the simplest twists of fate, and there are a few to come for Great Britain.
Pitched into the mix by Andy Murray’s protected ranking, they have soared and dipped and soared again since his late withdrawal to guard his injuries and, after coming from behind to beat Belgium 2-1, they could progress to the knockout stage if they see off the outsiders Moldova 3-0 in their third and final tie of the round-robin stage on Tuesday. It would help their cause to qualify as Group C winners if Belgium beat Bulgaria 2-1 on Monday.
If those scenarios do not pan out, they will have to rely on kind results in the other five groups to reach the quarters as one of the two best runners-up. Still, having lost 2-1 to Bulgaria on day one when they should have won, Tim Henman’s men are still punching near the final bell.
On a mild Sunday evening after days of brutal heat, Dan Evans recorded one of the best wins of his career, 6-4, 6-4 over the world No 11, David Goffin. Earlier Cameron Norrie crashed against the 35-year-old Steve Darcis, who took three sets on day one to beat the world No 818, Alexander Cozbinov, of Moldova, but won comfortably here, 6-2, 6-4.
It was Evans’s fourth best result by ranking, after wins in Australia over Marin Cilic (7) and Dominic Thiem (8) two years ago, and John Isner (9) at Delray Beach last year. This one, though, seemed to mean a lot more to a player who has played some of his best tennis when representing his country.
“I’d say that was one of the highest levels I’ve played,” he said later. However, Evans was loth to compare the new event with the Davis Cup, where he has often performed heroically for his long-time mentor Leon Smith. “Do you think I have thought about that?” he said, smiling. “I mean, come on. I don’t know. Listen, this tournament has been great. I’ve enjoyed it.
“I think it would be unfair to compare [Henman and Smith]. It’s a new event, very different to Davis Cup. Tim’s been great since he landed. He jumped right in at the deep end, was on court, hasn’t missed a session, hasn’t missed a beat. We have been to dinner every night. We’re a team, and we have treated it that way. No one has been missing anything, and it’s been great.”
After Norrie’s disappointing loss, Evans had to beat Goffin to keep British hearts beating. He broke in the opening game and they swapped advantage through to the seventh, before he served out the set, nervously, at the second attempt after 50 minutes. He fought through deuce four times in the second set before earning a third match point with an ace, and was hugely relieved when Goffin shoved his final backhand wide.
The icing on the British cake was a tight 6-3, 7-6 (7) win for Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury over Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen. Again, the new British combination did not always click, but Murray hit a string of dazzling winners to get them home in the tie-break.
Henman, meanwhile, is warming to his new role as captain. “I don’t think you can compare playing and sitting on the side of the court. Sitting on the side of the court as a player I found very unenjoyable, whereas being a captain, these two matches I have absolutely loved it. This sort of bench scenario works very, very well. The banter, we keep it pretty light. But we’re out there, playing for each other and having fun. I have been a little bit surprised how much I have enjoyed that aspect. I didn’t really know what to expect, but it’s something I have really, really enjoyed.”
Elsewhere, Alexander Zverev had another nightmare, bringing his double-fault count to 24 from two matches, as Stefanos Tsitsipas crushed him 6-4, 6-1 to draw Greece level with Germany in Brisbane.
The world No 7 said: “I’m doing double faults, I’m serving 120 kilometres an hour. That’s not really going to cut it.”
There were no such woes for Australia in the Queensland capital, and they beat Canada 3-0 for an unbeaten sweep in two ties. They are almost certain to go through, with Alex de Minaur again coming back from a set and a break down, this time to beat Denis Shapovalov.
New competition still caught in a haze
There’s much at stake here beside the fortunes of one country. If the rebuilt Davis Cup suffered because it was stuffed into too tight a setting in Madrid six weeks ago – resulting in ludicrously late finishes but a terrific final – the ATP Cup is a young bird still searching for a home. It currently has three: Perth, Brisbane and Sydney, which stretches not only logistics but the attention span of even this sports-mad country.
None of the state capitals, separated by huge distances and covering four time zones, has enough courts to accommodate all 24 competing nations on one site; which is why they are sharing the duties in the six round-robin groups, before the quarter-finals, semis and final come to Sydney.
There were six round-robin groups in Madrid, too, but with three nations in each instead of four; even so, it was difficult to know where to look, with three courts operating full-time all day and well into the night.
Fifteen of those finalists are among the 24 competing for the inaugural ATP Cup; Colombia, Kazakhstan and the Netherlands did not make the cut here, while South Africa, Bulgaria, Moldova, Austria, Poland, Georgia, Uruguay, Norway and Greece were added to the roster.
Yet both events make competing claims to be the definitive international team competition in the game. Fans, naturally enough, are confused – but they are still turning up, if not in the numbers either the ITF or the ATP would like. A merger would settle the rift – but it will not happen until both have explored all options, and that might take another couple of years, at least.
So, on we go through a haze, metaphorical as well as actual, smoke still drifting like a smothering blanket from the bushfires that have taken a toll on the indomitable spirit of all Australians. Clarity on all fronts is elusive.
