Obligatory premise: the format of the ATP Finals makes no sense for a sport like tennis, where if you win you continue and if you lose you go home. This is the only tournament of the year where, paradoxically, it is also possible to win the trophy by suffering one or two defeats. It also means that some players qualify for the semi-finals thanks to the results of others (see Novak Djokovic) and others are eliminated before even taking the field (Alexander Zverev). Something does not work.
Having said this, today’s match between Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz gave rise to a possible ‘biscuit’, if we can call it that: a possible 2-1 success by the Spaniard would not only have qualified him, but at the same time would have also guaranteed the primacy in the group to the Russian. A hypothesis perhaps not so pleasing to the native of Moscow: why come first and have to face a certain Novak Djokovic in the semi-final?
And so perhaps the least predictable eventuality occurred: Medvedev, who had already obtained the pass with a round to spare, succumbed with a sharp double 6-4 to Alcaraz, thus granting the Iberian the honor of facing the world no.1. Some might argue that it is in the order of things for Alcaraz to defeat Medvedev by two sets to zero, as had already happened this year in the final act of the Masters1000 in Indian Wells. However, the Russian never really gave the sensation of having taken the field to play ‘to the death’.
On the other hand, the post-match statements against Alexander Zverev had already hinted at the hint: “I don’t want to lose, but I don’t want to finish playing my last match of the group too late either“. It became clear that the one who took the field today in Turin was a listless Medvedev or, at least, not 100% focused on the match. The serve proved to be much less incisive than usual, Alcaraz hit it with serve&volleyhowever he never really tried to find a solution. He never really gave the feeling of wanting to try to fight to overturn the inertia of the match.
As Stefano Pescosolido argued on Radio Sportiva, “I can’t imagine a player taking the field to lose“. That was probably not Medvedev’s intent, but at the same time we are certain that the defeat will not take away his sleep tonight. Perhaps unconsciously the Russian prefers to face Jannik Sinner rather than Novak Djokovic: the court will decide whether he is right.
2023-11-17 17:05:52
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