Canada’s Schnur falls to Isner, giving U.S. early lead over Canada in ATP Cup | CBC Sports

Isner saved the only break point he faced.

“I surprised myself with how well I played out here,” Isner said in his on-court interview. “You always work hard in the offseason, but you never really know what could happen in that first match of the year.”

WATCH | Canada’s Schnur drops opening ATP Cup match to Isner:

Canadian Brayden Schnur loses to John Isner at ATP Cup

Brayden Schnur of Pickering, Ont., replaced a COVID-stricken Denis Shapovalov and fell to John Isner in straight sets at the ATP Cup in Sydney, Australia. 1:04

Isner broke twice in the first set and used his strong serve to capitalize on the advantage. The American hit 10 aces and won 46% of his return points.

“I actually really like this court. It’s not too fast, which I prefer. It gives me a little time to swing out on my shots being so big. That helps me out a lot,” Isner said.

The team format sees two singles matches played and a concluding doubles.

In the other day match Sunday, defending champions Russia got off to a strong start when Roman Safiullin beat Arthur Rinderknech of France 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.

On the opening day Saturday, Argentina and Spain both cruised to 3-0 victories over Georgia and Chile, respectively. Serbia, despite playing without No. 1 Novak Djokovic, beat Norway 2-1 and Poland took advantage of Stefanos Tsitsipas’ injury-enforced absence in singles to beat Greece 2-1.

The 16 teams are dividing into four groups, with the winners of each group advancing to the semifinals on Jan. 7 and 8. The final is scheduled for Jan. 9.