Alex de Minaur is backing the Australian squad’s chemistry to help them overcome their tough draw in the inaugural $22.2 million ATP Cup which starts on Friday.
World No.18 de Minaur spearheads captain Lleyton Hewitt’s home squad alongside Nick Kyrgios (No.30) and he believes the Aussies have shown they bring out the best in each other.
The 24-team tournament will be held in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney from January 3-12. After the group stage played over six days, the top eight teams advance to a knockout finals series in Sydney.
But Australia face a daunting task to get past Brisbane from arguably the toughest of the six groups as they face Germany, Greece and Canada.
Tennis’ next generation of stars are on show in the group, with de Minaur and Kyrgios to come up against Germany’s world No.7 Alexander Zverev, last month’s ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and Canadian young gun Denis Shapovalov.
Zverev is joined in the German team by world No.35 Jan-Lennard Struff and they are backed by 2018 Roland Garros doubles champions Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies.
Shapovalov is ranked 15th in the world while Canadian teammate Felix Auger-Aliassime sits just six places lower at No.21.
Tsitsipas is the highest-ranked player in Group F at No.6 but the next best for Greece is Michail Pervolarakis, who is No.472.
Australia are aiming to bounce back and avenge their quarter-final exit to Canada at the Davis Cup in Madrid last month and de Minaur says the team, also including John Millman, John Peers and Chris Guccione, relishes the opportunity.
“It’s definitely a tournament that’s marked in my calendar, which I’m really looking forward to,” de Minaur said. “It’s another opportunity to be around all the Aussie boys.
“We have such a good team chemistry, so I’m really looking forward to being around the boys, competing side by side, getting the best out of each other.
“We have a very good team, a very strong team.
“I know everyone is going to leave their heart out on the court … we’re going to do everything in our power to put in the best possible result we can.”
