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Spain, Poland, Argentina win 2nd straight matches at ATP Cup

Posted January 03, 2022 6:00 am

The Associated Press

Poland's Hubert Hurkacz argues a call while playing Georgia's Aleksandre Metreveli during their match at the ATP Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) The Associated Press

SYDNEY (AP) - Spain, Poland and Argentina remained perfect at the ATP Cup with 3-0 wins in their matches Monday, their second consecutive victories in the team event.

Robert Bautista Agut clinched the match for Spain by beating Casper Ruud of Norway 6-4, 7-6 (4) after Pablo Carreno Busta defeated Viktor Durasovic 6-3, 6-3.

Bautista Agut improved to 9-2 in singles at the team event.

'œCasper is playing unbelievable tennis, (he did) an unbelievable performance last year, and today I played very good,'ť Bautista Agut said in his on-court interview. 'œI returned very well, I made very few unforced errors and I played aggressively. 'œ

Kamil Majchrzak gave Poland the early lead over Georgia with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Aleksandre Bakshi before Hubert Hurkacz clinched it with a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1 win over Aleksandre Metreveli.

'œHe (Metreveli) played well in the first set and things were not going my way. But I got better with each set and am happy to get the win,'ť Hurkacz said.

Argentina defeated Greece as Federtico Delbonis beat Michail Pervolorakis 7-6 (5), 6-1 and Diego Schwartzman came from behind for a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3 victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The three sides then completed their victories by winning their doubles matches.

Poland and Argentina will play for a pot in the semifinals when they meet in their final group game on Wednesday.

Majchrzak needed only 53 minutes to beat Bakshi.

'œI was trying to move (Bakshi) around and I think that was the key to the match,'ť said Majchrzak, who is coached by former world seventh-ranked Joakim Nystrom.

'œHe brings me a lot of confidence and a lot of calm in my tennis so I can feel that I am improving,'ť Majchrzak said of Nystrom on the ATP Tour's website. 'œWe are working on (developing an all-court game) but in a way that doesn't interrupt my baseline game. We will take it from the practice to the matches but it takes time."

Chile remained in contention for a semifinal place with a 2-1 victory over Serbia.

Filip Krajinov put Serbia in front by beating Alejandro Tabilo 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5) only for Chile to pull even when Dusan Lajovic retired in the third set of his match with Cristian Garin.

That set up the deciding doubles match where Tabilo and Tomas Barrios Vera beat Nikola Cacic and Matej Sabanov 6-4, 3-6, 10-7.

'œIt was a great match with Krajinovic and I just needed to find the motivation again, once Cristian won his match,'ť Tabilo said after his doubles win.

The result left both teams with 1-1 records heading to Wednesday's final group matches, where Chile takes on Norway and Serbia faces Spain.

The four group winners in the 16-team tournament advance to the semifinals on Friday and Saturday, with the winners meeting in the final on Sunday.

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Casper Ruud of Norway plays a shot against Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut during their match at the ATP Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Steve Christo) The Associated Press

Viktor Durasovic of Norway plays a shot against Spain's Pablo CarreÃ±o Busta during their match at the ATP Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Steve Christo) The Associated Press

CORRECTS IDS - Georgia's Aleksandre Bakshi runs to hit a forehand to Poland's Kamil Majchrzak during their match at the ATP Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) The Associated Press

Georgia's Aleksandre Metreveli preparers to serve to Poland's Hubert Hurkacz during their match at the ATP Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) The Associated Press

Pedro Martinez, right, and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain play a shot against Norway's Viktor Durasovic and Lukas Hellum-Lilleengen during their match at the ATP Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Steve Christo) The Associated Press

Georgia's Aleksandre Bakshi, left, and Zura Tkemaladze preparer to serve to Poland's Szymon Walkow and Jan Zielinski during their doubles match at the ATP Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) The Associated Press

Tomas Barrios Vera, top, and Alejandro Tabilo of Chile celebrate winning the match against Serbia's Nikola Cacic and Matej Sabanov during their doubles match at the ATP Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Steve Christo) The Associated Press

Argentina's Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni, right, bump fists as they play Greece's Markos Kalovelonis and Petros Tsitsipas during their doubles match at the ATP Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) The Associated Press

Nikola Cacic, right, and Matej Sabanov of Serbia celebrate winning a point against Chile's Tomas Barrios Vera and Alejandro Tabilo during their doubles match at the ATP Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Steve Christo) The Associated Press

Tomas Barrios Vera, right, and Alejandro Tabilo of Chile celebrate winning a point against Serbia's Nikola Cacic and Matej Sabanov during their doubles match at the ATP Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Steve Christo) The Associated Press

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