Italy and Russia advance to the semifinals of 2021 ATP Cup

Fabio Fognini (Google Images)

Half of the semifinalists are set at the 2021 ATP Cup in Melbourne, Australia. On Wednesday, Italy and Russia advanced to the final four after wins over France and Japan respectively.

Team Italy got two straight set wins in singles action. Fabio Fognini of Sanremo, Italy rebounded after a sluggish singles performance a day earlier in a loss to Denis Novak of Austria, with an impressive 6-1, 7-6 win over Benoit Paire of France. Then, Matteo Berrettini came through with a convincing 6-4, 6-2 win over the entertaining Gael Monfils. Team Italy cannot be caught by France or Austria, as they have beaten both nations in Group C.

Russia meanwhile had no problems with Japan in winning Group D. Andrey Rublev beat Yoshihito Nishioka 6-1, 6-3, and Daniil Medvedev beat Kei Nishikori 6-2, 6-4. Medvedev and Nishikori are both U.S. Open finalists from the past. Nishikori reached the final in 2014 before losing to Marin Cilic of Croatia, and Medvedev reached the final in 2019, before losing to Rafael Nadal of Spain.

In Group A, Germany will play Serbia on Thursday for a spot in the semifinals. On Wednesday, Germany beat Canada 2-1, after singles victories for Alexander Zverev and Jan-Lennard Struff. Zverev beat Denis Shapovalov 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, while Struff beat Milos Raonic 7-6, 7-6. Serbia is the defending ATP Cup champion.

Meanwhile, in Group B, Australia came through with a 2-1 win over Greece. The Australian wins came from John Millman, who beat Michail Pervolarakis, 6-2, 6-3, and doubles players John Peers and Luke Saville, who beat Pervolarakis and Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-3, 4-6, 10-5. Remember the deciding set in doubles, goes to a super tiebreak. Australia is now 1-1, Spain is 1-0, and Greece is 0-1. If Spain beats Greece on Thursday, they are in the semifinals. If Greece wins, there will be a three-way tie.

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