The ATP Tour is about to resume, but the past weekend was reserved for the ITF event known as the Davis Cup. What happened that everyone should know about? Here’s a list of the main stories that came from the three-day event, Friday through Sunday:
Australia’s Young Guns Can’t Get Along
There was a lot of fire breathing for the Australian contingent after a loss to the United States. Nick Kyrgios did not play because he didn’t feel healthy enough. Bernard Tomic played with some physical pain, but lost. In a post-match press conference, Tomic said that if Kyrgios played in the upcoming Indian Wells singles tournament, he would lose all respect for Kyrgios. Australia has to wonder about the togetherness of its team in the future. The new captain is Lleyton Hewitt, who just retired as a professional player. Hewitt has a lot of work to do in order to keep Australia from falling apart in future Davis Cup tournaments.
Novak Djokovic Is Going Through A Rough Patch
There is no question that the eye problems Djokovic had in the Dubai tournament – which he had to withdraw from – have lingered in a certain way. The eye itself is said to be healthy, but Djokovic was clearly in a different frame of mind in Davis Cup. He struggled in a five-set win over Mikhail Kukushkin, offering at least a little reason to be concerned about the coming months. Djokovic is defending on a lot of points this year instead of being aggressive and putting them away. It looks like there are some chinks in the armor right now but it’s not clear if it’s the injury or a lack of interest; he could just turn things up at the grand slams. If he starts losing a few smaller tournaments, though, other players could begin to gain confidence against him. Heading into the French Open and Wimbledon, Djokovic might not be the same player he was last year. This could change the way the ATP Tour runs its course in 2016.
Andy Murray Is A Fighter And A Survivor
Andy Murray didn’t win the Australian Open, but he did reach the final, and he did so by outlasting Milos Raonic in a five-set match. In the Davis Cup, Murray outlasted Kei Nishikori of Japan in five sets and nearly five hours to help Great Britain, the defending champion, advance to the quarterfinals. Murray is not an overwhelmingly great player, but he is a great player. His defense, commitment, and strong backhand have taken him a long way. Nishikori is a top-10 player, and Murray was able to hold him off. That’s a big win. It means that if Murray and Djokovic both compete in the Davis Cup quarterfinals, they will play a match against each other, which would be a tremendous event.
Kei Nishikori Was Beaten, But He Is Still Close To Being Even Better
This is a player who has made a Grand Slam final. He’s made the semifinals of the year-ending World Tour Finals in the past (just not in 2015). He’s extremely talented and has very piercing groundstrokes when he’s doing well. Yet, Kei Nishikori has not yet been able to crack the code established by the top four players in the world. He didn’t beat Murray in the Davis Cup over the weekend, but he did make Murray earn every last thing he got. This is a performance which should encourage Nishikori in the months ahead. However, if you’re a bettor, you probably haven’t changed your perspective as of right now. Maybe in the future you consider him a decent bet in head-to-head matchups – maybe even a value play when he’s going up against someone elite – but he’s not someone you can back to win it all. Until we see him break through, it’s tough to lay money on him to win outright for something major like Wimbledon or the U.S. Open.
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