The 2022 ATP World Tour season kicks off with the ATP Cup, which is also the start of the Australian professional tennis summer. The ATP Cup this year takes place exclusively in Sydney, Australia with a host of players representing their nations in singles and doubles matches. Here is your preview for day 1 singles play, we also have predictions for a set of matches featuring Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Hubert Hurkacz.
Federico Delbonis vs Aleksandre Metreveli
Metreveli looks outmatched in this contest, ranked outside the top 500, the Georgian primarily plays on the ITF futures tour. Delbonis is in poor form though, he finished the year without a match win since the clay court tournament in Gstaad, a 10 match losing streak should be snapped here, if it’s not, that would be a huge confidence destroyer for the still top 50 Argentine. Delbonis prefers clay, but should still be good enough here. Delbonis in 2
Pablo Carreno Busta vs Alejandro Tabilo
A finalist in Metz towards the end of the year, Carreno Busta is a capable hard court player who should have the upper hand to get Spain off to a good start in the ATP Cup. Carreno Busta’s 38 wins last year were his most since 2016, and he won two titles last year (both on clay). Tabilo ended the year in fantastic form on the Challenger Tour, reaching a hard court final, and winning on clay. With that said, Tabilo is still angling to make the top 100, he prefers clay and has less experience at the ATP level. Carreno Busta in 2
Cristian Garin vs Roberto Bautista Agut
Garin posted a slightly positive record for the season in 2021 but he struggled off of clay, RBA put together a 30-25 record including a quarterfinal in St. Petersburg close to the end of the season. He reached two hard court finals early last season, but wasn’t in his best form at year’s end. The experienced Spaniard has a higher comfort level on hard courts though and should be able to carry Spain through to a win. Bautista Agut in 2
Diego Schwartzman vs Nikoloz Basilashvili
A finalist in Antwerp with a 38-22 record in 2021, and a title on clay in Buenos Aires, Schwartzman is trending positively into the new year. Basilashvili reached the final in Indian Wells and went 34-27 on the season, with two titles (Doha and Munich). Basilashvili is a skilled hard court player and this looks like the match of the day, I’ll give Schwartzman a slim edge though. Schwartzman in 3
Main Photo from Getty Images
