The Russian national tennis team won the first match at the ATP Cup. The rivals of the national team were the French, who initially did not plan to come to Australia: the tennis players who gathered after the Austrians were withdrawn, both players from the top 250 failed to compete in the tournament for health reasons. However, despite the tight deadlines, the French managed to nominate two athletes from the first ATP ranking at once – Hugo Humbert (35th racket of the world) and Arthur Rinderknesh (58th). The national team, on the contrary, before the starting match no longer looked like a favorite of the competition. Due to the coronavirus, Aslan Karatsev, Andrei Rublev and Yevgeny Donskoy did not fly to Sydney. Together with Daniil Medvedev, Roman Safiullin (167th racket of the world), Evgeny Karlovsky (269th) and Alexander Shevchenko (328th) were to defend the title.

According to the regulations, the tournament was opened by the second numbers of the teams, so the first court to defend the honor of the country was 24-year-old Safiullin. Arthur Rinderknesh opposed him, with whom the Russian had never met on the court before. Roman made his debut for the national team in this match, and the starting excitement affected the first set. The decisive game was the third game, which the tennis players played for more than 15 minutes: 11 times it was exactly, the Russian was able to play five break points, but the sixth still remained with the French. Then Rinderknesh took another game on someone else’s serve and calmly brought the matter to victory – 6: 2.

However, this did not break Safiullin. The tennis player showed that the coaching staff every time, for a reason, for the number, calls his team. In the second game, Roman was able to make a break for the first time and took the lead 2-0. True, he immediately gave up his serve, returning the equality in the game. The games were very nervous and tense. Rinderknesh had five break points per set, but he could not use a single Frenchman. The Russian had to perform yet another feat at the end of the game with the score 6: 5. Now Arthur found himself in the role of taking revenge: he coped with one break point, and the second still remained with Safiullin.

The third game, although it started stubbornly, completely remained with the Russian, he took the lead 4: 0 and did not miss the advantage. As a result – 6: 3, an incredible comeback of Safiullin, who for the first time since 2018 defeated a player from the top 100 of the world ranking.

After the match, the Russian admitted that he was inspired by Medvedev’s words. Daniel advised him not to worry and just play his tennis.

“I am very happy to win the first match, to earn a point for the team. The second set turned out to be tense. Before the meeting, Daniel said to go and play with all his might, discarding the excitement. Fight every point, ”the ATP official website quotes Safiullin as saying.

President of Russian tennis Shamil Tarpishchev, in turn, expressed the hope that Roman Federation will get the same takeoff as Aslan Karatsev, who after the 2021 ATP Cup from 112th place in the world ranking to 18th.

“As for Safiullin, in 2015 he won the Australian Open Junior Tennis Championships. Roman had a serious shoulder injury, he even had surgery in Vietnam. After this progress has stalled. Until recently, the relapse made itself felt. He is a lost player who has done a lot. He did not reveal himself to the level of who he could be in reality. He often plays well in singles, and has recently won challengers. I would like to repeat the path of Karatsev. But, unfortunately, there are problems with injuries, ”- quotes the words of the expert“ Championship ”.

Medvedev and Humbert were the second on the court. Previously, the athletes crossed paths only once – in the first round of the tournament in Hamburg in 2020. Then the Russian lost in two sets. The second match against the Frenchman turned out to be not easy either. Although Daniel, who clearly did not catch the rhythm after the rest, we can say that he gave this fight himself: 44 unforced, including seven doubles, the absence of the first serve – only 56% of hits. In addition, starting from the end of the second set, Medvedev began to reduce his legs. And Humbert, seeing the problems of the Russian, deliberately forced him to get involved in long rallies. However, Daniel must be given credit. Taking into account all the problems that arose, he fought to the end and got to the tie-break of the third game, where the French turned out to be stronger. Humbert won 6: 7 (5: 7), 7: 5, 7: 6 (7: 2).

Thus, the Russian’s incredible winning streak ended. He did not know defeat in team matches all of 2021, having won four meetings in the ATP Cup and five in the Davis Cup.

The decisive match was the doubles match, which again went to Safiullin and Medvedev. Moreover, the second racket of the world after a tense fight with Humbert has less than half an hour to rest. This angered Daniel, which he later spoke about at a press conference.

“When I heard that I have 25 minutes to prepare for the doubles match, I was not happy. This is too little to recover from a three-hour struggle and seizures. But I play for Russia, for my country. Even if I die, I will still go to court and try to win, ”the tennis player admitted.

Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Fabrice Martin, unlike the Russians, were fresh. In addition, the French had a lot of experience in pair meetings. So everything spoke in favor of the rivals. However, the meeting turned out differently. Medvedev finally played in his usual champion style. Safiullin also worked very effectively at times. Despite some inconsistency in actions (in one of the games, when serving, Daniel, for example, hit Roman on the shoulder), the Russian duo managed to win the match in two sets. In the first game, they made two breaks, only giving their serve once. The second time, everything was decided in the ninth game: the Russians took the first break point, brought the score to 5: 4 and calmly went to serve for the match. At the end of the meeting, Medvedev and Safiullin did not hide their joy, rushing to the bench. According to Daniel, this day was one of the brightest in his career.

“I definitely had some emotional moments, but today will be in the top 3 or top 5. Just look at Roman’s match. How he was able to return to the game after a difficult first set, in which he lost to an opponent very easily, and then acted unrealistically great and turned the tide of the match. In pairs, the partner is close to you, which is completely different when there is someone else on your side of the court. The emotions when we were able to make a break in the second set were incredible. I could have contained them, but I didn’t want to, ”the Russian admitted.

Tarpishchev, in turn, was surprised that Medvedev and Safiullin managed to win a doubles match against a difficult French duo, and also assessed the team’s chances of winning the tournament.

“With the line-up announced for the ATP Cup, you can fight with almost any team. How it goes – we’ll see. That, despite the weakened composition, ours will present some kind of surprise, ”said the specialist.

It will be necessary to perform feats very soon: on January 4, the Russians will have a meeting with the owners of the courts – the Australians.