AFPDaniil Medvedev
NOS Sport•yesterday, 4:20 PM•Adjusted yesterday, 11:41 PM
Daniil Medvedev has reached the semi-finals of the ATP Finals in Turin. After the Russian defeated his compatriot Andrei Rublev without losing a set, he was also too strong for Alexander Zverev in his second group match in two sets: 7-6 (7), 6-4.
The German Zverev won the end-of-year tournament twice, in 2021 by defeating Medvedev in the final. The Russian, number three in the world, now got off to a flying start with a break in the opening game, but gave up that advantage halfway through the set.
Meat
Zverev, who caused a sensation earlier this week by beating Carlos Alcaraz, played with visibly more confidence and also took the first minibreak in the tiebreak.
AFPAlexander Zverev
It wasn’t enough to get the set. Not even after Medvedev had smashed a high ball out of bounds with a wild blow and Zverev was allowed to serve for the set. A mishit with the forehand and moments later a difficult backhand volley into the net proved fatal for the German.
The second set was also heading for a tiebreak, until Zverev, who had been smoothly walking through his service games until then, suddenly produced a few misses at 4-5. A sloppy forehand against match point that was too long immediately cost him his head.
Alcaraz recovers
Alcaraz achieved his first victory in the same group. After his surprising defeat against Zverev on Monday, the reigning Wimbledon champion won 7-5, 6-2 against Andrei Rublev, who suffered his second defeat at the unofficial World Cup for the best eight players of the year.
ReutersCarlos Alcaraz
Alcaraz and Rublev faced each other for the first time at ATP level. The first eight games went to the server without any problems, but then things went terribly wrong for the Russian number five in the world.
Cursing and ranting
At 4-4 he managed to get rid of a chance to break, but at 5-5 he was still broken by Alcaraz. Rublev then lost his self-control, as he often does. He was cursing and ranting on the court and could no longer make things difficult for the Spanish number two in the world.
Alcaraz, who criticized the high speed of the track at the ATP Finals on Monday, retains the prospect of qualifying for the semi-finals with his victory.
Rublev takes out frustration on his knees and has to leave the win to Alcaraz
2023-11-15 22:41:21
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