Roberto Bautista Agut claims three-set win over Alex De Minaur to move Spain to 1-0 in Group B - UBITENNIS

Roberto Bautista Agut claims three-set win over Alex De Minaur to move Spain to 1-0 in Group B

By sampaolo
4 Min Read

Reigning Davis Cup champion Roberto Bautista Agut claimed the first win for Spain at the 2021 ATP Cup with a 4-6 6-4 6-4 win over Australia’s Alex De Minaur after 2 hours and 21 minutes in Melbourne to move Spain to 1-0 in Group B. 

Bautista Agut was originally scheduled to play against John Millman in the number 2 singles match, bu he was promoted to the world number 1 position when Rafael Nadal was forced to withdraw from the tie due to a stiff lower back. 

Bautista Agut converted 5 of his 17 break points and dropped his serve five times. The first set featured seven break in the first ten games. De Minaur earned three consecutive breaks to race out to a 5-1 lead in the first set and did not convert a set point in the seventh game. 

Bautista Agut pulled back one break to close the back to 4-5 before De Minaur got his fourth break to seal the first set 6-4. 

Bautista Agut held five consecutive service games in the second set and broke serve in the third game to claim the second set 6-4. 

The Spaniard did not lose a point in his service games and got the decisive break in the third game. He held serve at 15 serving for the win at 5-4 to seal the third set 6-4. 

Bautista Agut has extended his winning streak to 7-0 in the ATP Cup and earned his first win in his three head-to-head matches against De Minaur, who beat the Spanish player in Zhuhai and Paris Bercy in 2019. 

“Everybody knows that it’s a pleasure to have Rafa on the team. It’s a privilege to be in the team with the team. We can learn a lot of things staying around him. He has been fighting 20 years and we are there to complete the team, to be there and to fight. I think Pablo and I today did a great job”, said Bautista Agut. 

Earlier today, last year’s US Open semifinalist Pablo Carreno Busta dropped just three points on his first serve to defeat John Millman 6-2 6-4 in one hour and 17 minutes in the first singles match. Carreno Busta dropped serve once and broke serve four times. 

Both players traded breaks three times in the first set. Carreno Busta got two breaks to build up a 4-2 lead. Carreno Busta hit a forehand down the line winner to earn another break in the seventh game and saved a break point in the eighth game to close out the first set 6-2. 

Carreno Busta broke serve in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead after a loose forehand from Millman in the second set, which featured nine holds of serve. Carreno Busta held with a service winner to give Spain a 1-0 lead, as he was serving for the win at 5-4.

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