September 16, 2019 - The Croatia tennis team, composed of Marin Cilic and Borna Coric, will play in Group E of the ATP Cup, set to premiere in Australia next January. Croatia will face the teams of Austria and Argentina, which was determined in a draw for the competition held on Monday in Sydney.
Slobodna Dalmacija writes that as the ATP ranking of tennis players in the singles competition determines which countries will participate in the team competition, Croatia will be led by two of the best-ranked Croatian tennis players - Borna Coric and Marin Cilic.
The best Austrian tennis player is Dominic Thiem, who is ranked 5th in the ladder released on September 9, with Dennis Novak holds the 122nd position. For Argentina, the best-ranked player is Diego Schwartzman, who was 16th on September 9, and Guido Pella, who is in 22nd place.
Twenty-four countries will participate in the ATP Cup, which will be held from January 3 to 12 in Sydney, Perth, and Brisbane. The tournament finishes eight days before the Australian Open (January 20 - February 2), the first grand slam tournament season.
The countries that have qualified for the ATP Cup based on the September 9 ATP ranking include Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Russia, Australia, Germany, Greece, Japan, Italy, France, Belgium, Croatia, Argentina, Georgia, South Africa, USA, Canada, UK, and the host country Australia. Five more countries will be determined on November 13, also based on the ATP ranking.
Twenty-seven of the top 30 ATP players agreed to participate, including Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray, whose protected ranking allowed Great Britain to qualify for the competition.
The competition will begin with the group stage (six groups with four teams each) followed by the quarterfinal, then the semifinal and the final. Each pair will play two singles matches and one doubles match. The two players with the best ranking from each country participate in the competition, but if changes are needed, an additional player can jump in.
The competition grants 750 ATP points to the winner of the singles competition, which is less than the grand slam tournament (2,000 points), Masters (1,500) and Masters 1,000, but more than other tournaments. The prize pool is $15 million, or about 13.5 million euros.
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