Russia Win the 2021 Davis Cup
Russia beat Croatia 2-0 on Sunday to win the Davis Cup for the first time in 15 years. Russia were the heavy favourites heading into this year’s competition, with a quality team consisting of four top 30 singles players including world number 2 Daniil Medvedev.
This could be the start of a dominant period for the Russian team as no other country sports such a quality squad. Russia also won the ATP cup earlier this year beating a similarly strong Italian team in the Final. At this year’s Davis Cup, their deep roster of players was unmatched. They were ruthless and clinical throughout the competition, each player showing just how much this tournament means to them. Medvedev won all of his singles and doubles matches whilst Andrey Rublev did his fair share of heavy lifting, only losing one singles match to an inspired Feliciano Lopez.
The losing finalists Croatia were something of a Cinderella story throughout this years Davis Cup. Despite having the world’s number one doubles team in Mekic and Pavic, team Croatia made it through to the final thanks to none other than world number 281 Borna Gojo. He won three singles matches against much higher ranked opponents whilst top ranked Croatian Marin Cilic lost all but one of his five singles matches.
Russia will now have their eyes on defending the ATP Cup next month with Medvedev, Rublev and Karatsev all expected to play. The ATP Cup kicks off on the first of January in Sydney with 16 team competing for the title.
And with that, the 2021 ATP season is over. Now begins the short but crucial off-season before the 2022 Australian swing. We look forward to seeing all the players back on court in Australia with their new haircuts and improved games, who knows… we might even see some brand-new rackets!
Team Russia – Rackets
Daniil Medvedev – Tecnifibre T-Fight 305 RS
Andrey Rublev – Head Graphene 360+ Gravity Pro 2021
Aslan Karatsev – Head Graphene 360+ Prestige Mid
Karen Khachanov – Wilson Blade 98 v8 (16x19)
Evgeny Donskoy – Babolat Pure Drive 2021
Written by Aron Dochard
