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Russia beat United States at ATP Cup

Published:Monday | January 6, 2020 | 12:28 AM
Denis Shapovalov of Canada plays a shot during his match against Alex de Minaur of Australia at the ATP Cup tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia, yesterday.
AP
Denis Shapovalov of Canada plays a shot during his match against Alex de Minaur of Australia at the ATP Cup tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia, yesterday.

BRISBANE, Australia (AP):

Daniil Medvedev beat John Isner 6-3, 6-1 to give Russia two wins from two starts at the ATP Cup, leaving the United States as the only winless team so far in Group D.

Russia followed their 3-0 opening win over Italy with another comfortable victory in Perth yesterday, clinching the match against the Americans before the US pairing of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram salvaged some pride with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Karen Khachanov and Medvedev. Khachanov gave the Russians a winning start with his 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 comeback victory over Taylor Fritz in the first singles.

No. 5-ranked Medvedev was called for a foot-fault on match point, which he unsuccessfully challenged, but then closed out immediately when Isner netted the next service return.

“I thought he definitely did what he does well, which is make a lot of balls, and so I wasn’t even close tonight,” Isner said. “I didn’t quite serve as well as I needed to, there’s no doubt.”

The Australians moved atop Group F with a 3-0 sweep of Canada in Brisbane, and Germany’s dramatic win over Greece, decided by a super tiebreaker in the doubles, meant the tournament hosts were assured of advancing to the quarter-finals.

German pair Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 17-15 win in the doubles over Michail Pervolarakis and Stefanos Tsisipas, who had earlier trounced Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-4 in the second singles encounter to get Greece level at 1-1.

Bulgaria beat Moldova to make it two wins from two in Group C in Sydney, before Britain edged Belgium 2-1 with a victory in the doubles.

Britain, beaten in the opening match by Bulgaria, secured the bounce-back win with Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury coming out on top in the deciding doubles match. Dan Evans levelled it earlier with a 6-4, 6-4 win over David Goffin, after Belgian No. 2 Steve Darcis beat Cameron Norrie 6-2, 6-4.

Italy needed victory in the doubles to edge Norway in their best-of-three match encounter and now both teams have 1-1 records in Group D.

The six group winners and the two best second-place teams advance to the play-offs in Sydney.Having the home team there could be a boost for sports lovers in a country experiencing its worst wildfire season in recorded history, which has already left 24 dead, 2,000 homes destroyed, and burned through large swathes of Australia.