Stefanos Tsitsipas whipped an error-strewn Alexander Zverev to win the battle of the big guns at the ATP Cup on Sunday, inflicting a second successive defeat on the German in his warm-up for the Australian Open.
On day three of the inaugural 24-nation team event in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth, world number 11 David Goffin was another loser, along with Italy’s Fabio Fognini, ranked one place below him.
Greek star Tsitsipas, who won the 2019 season-ending ATP Finals in London and is now ranked six, was in a different league to Zverev, who only began hitting balls a week ago after an off-season curtailed by a lucrative exhibition tour.
The lacklustre German world number seven sent down 10 double faults and made just 45 percent of his first serves, a worrying sign ahead of the opening Grand Slam of the year.
He lost to Australia’s Alex de Minaur in his opening match on Friday, throwing away a one-set lead.
“I worked very hard for this win, I found solutions, found my rhythm and my pace and knew what I was doing on court,” said impressive 21-year-old Tsitsipas after his 6-1, 6-4 walloping in Brisbane.
The Boris Becker-captained Germans have now won one of their opening ties, while Greece has lost both of theirs.
The Grigor Dimitrov-led Bulgaria won their second tie in a row, beating Moldova 2-1, to be in a commanding position in Group C, while Australia also made it two-out-of-two in Group F with De Minaur again on fire in their 3-0 sweep of Canada.
Belgium’s Goffin saved five match points against Dan Evans, but it was too little, too late as he crashed 6-4, 6-4 in Sydney for one of the biggest wins of the Briton’s career.
Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury won the deciding doubles to secure the tie for Britain 2-1.
Fognini was beaten by emerging Norwegian 21-year-old Casper Ruud, who claimed his second big scalp after upsetting American John Isner in his first match on Friday.
Ruud, whose father Christian is Norway’s captain, won 6-2, 6-2, although it wasn’t enough to prevent Norway losing 2-1 to Italy.
Mercurial Australian Nick Kyrgios pulled out of his country’s tie against Canada just hours before it started with back soreness.
But John Millman seamlessly stepped in to stun Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets before De Minaur again showed the fighting qualities for which he is renowned.