Daniil Medvedev and Roman Safiullin won their singles matches before combining to win the doubles on Tuesday to give defending champion Russia a sweep of Australia and first place in Group B at the ATP Cup.
Russia is 2-0 in the tournament but still has to beat Italy on Thursday in a rematch between last year’s finalists to ensure it advances to the semifinals.
Bouncing back
Italy rebounded from its upset loss to Australia last Sunday to sweep France, with Jannik Sinner beating Arthur Rinderknech 6-3, 7-6(3) and Matteo Berrettini defeating Ugo Humbert 6-4, 7-6(6) in the singles matches.
All four teams in Group C have 1-1 records after Germany beat the United States and Canada rallied to beat Britain.
Jan-Lennard Struff withstood 34 aces in a 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-5 win over John Isner to give Germany the lead and Alexander Zverev sealed his team’s victory, on his fifth match point, with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Taylor Fritz.
Isner and Fritz combined for a 6-0, 6-3 win over Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz in the doubles
In the night session, Dan Evans gave Britain an early lead over Canada by beating Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-4, but Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated Cameron Norrie 7-6 (4), 6-3 and then combined with Shapovalov to beat Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury 6-4, 6-1 in the deciding doubles match.
The results: Group B: Russia bt Australia 3-0 (Roman Safiullin bt James Duckworth 7-6(6), 6-4; Daniil Medvedev bt Alex De Minaur 6-4, 6-2; Safiullin & Medvedev bt John Peers & Luke Saville 7-6(7), 3-6, [10-6]).
Italy bt France 3-0 (Jannik Sinner bt Arthur Rinderknech 6-3, 7-6(3); Matteo Berrettini bt Ugo Humbert 6-4, 7-6(6); Berrettini & Sinner bt Fabrice Martin & Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-3, 6-7(7), [10-8])
Group C: Germany bt USA 2-1 (Jan-Lennard Struff bt John Isner 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-5; Alexander Zverev bt Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4; Kevin Krawietz & Tim Puetz lost to Isner & Fritz 0-6, 3-6).
Canada bt Great Britain 2-1 (Denis Shapovalov lost to Dan Evans 4-6, 4-6; Felix Auger-Aliassime bt Cameron Norrie 7-6(4), 6-3; Auger-Aliassime & Shapovalov bt Jamie Murray & Joe Salisbury 6-4, 6-1) .
