Pablo Carreno Busta gave Spain a winning start to the ATP Cup on Saturday when he overcame Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo 6-4 7-6 (4) in Group A of the lucrative men’s team tournament.
Leading the Spanish team in the absence of Rafa Nadal, Carreno Busta initially looked rusty and went 0-3 down to the tricky Chilean lefthander at the start of both sets.
The world number 20 showed great fight and no little class to get the job done in two sets, rallying again from 1-3 down in the second-stanza tiebreak to claim victory when Tabilo netted a forehand return.
“The start of the match was very, very difficult, he was playing some good tennis,” Carreno Busta said on Ken Rosewall Arena.
“It was the first match of the year … but I’m happy because I was always fighting and at the end of the match I was playing a lot better than I was at the beginning.”
Federico Delbonis earlier made light work of Aleksandre Metreveli with a 6-1 6-2 win at the Sydney Super Dome to give Argentina a 1-0 lead in their Group D tie against Georgia.
The third edition of the $10 million ATP Cup has 16 teams divided into four groups playing at two venues at Sydney’s Olympic Park.
The absence of Novak Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer for various reasons has robbed the event of some sparkle, but 14 of the world’s top 20 players are in action as they prepare for the start of the Australian Open on Jan. 17.
World number four Stefanos Tsitsipas will get his 2022 campaign underway in Greece’s cause against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in Group D later on Saturday.
Daniil Medvedev, second in the world rankings behind Djokovic, will represent reigning champions Russia in their opening Group B tie against France on Sunday.