ATP Finals: Medvedev wins baseline war against Rublev to go top of Red Group
Daniil Medvedev has defeated Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-2 at the 2023 ATP Finals, moving to the top spot in the Red Group
Zuma/Panoramic
Daniil Medvedev has made the perfect start to his campaign at the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals, defeating compatriot Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-2 at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, Italy on Monday evening.
Playing some of the best tennis he’s produced all season, Medvedev’s victory over Rublev is his third in a row, following wins in Dubai and New York this year, and avenges the 27-year-old’s loss to Rublev at the ATP Finals in 2022.
With the victory, which saw a plethora of high-quality baseline rallies exchanged and some brutal serving from Medvedev, the Russian moves to top spot in the Red Group, ahead of Alexander Zverev who also won earlier today.
Medvedev refuses to be broken in first set
Despite the relatively mundane score line of 6-4 in the opening set, the tennis was anything but ordinary for 55 minutes between Medvedev and Rublev.
Medvedev began playing some blistering shots, losing only three points across his first three service games and not hitting a single unforced error across the first half an hour.
Somehow, Rublev managed to stay with him across the first six games, fending off a raft of break points and holding his own serve for 3-3. However, the pressure became too much in the seventh game, where Medvedev broke on his fifth attempt to go up 4-3.
Just as it seemed the elder Russian would race away with the first set, Rublev raised his own level, rushing out to 0-30 then 15-40 on Medvedev’s serve. However, as he consistently did across the set, Medvedev would see off the break points with brutal unreturnable serves, thwarting a total of seven across the opening stanza.
Having played incredible tennis, Rublev found himself down 5-3 and needing to serve to stay in the match. That he did, but without the ability to break Medvedev’s serve, the damage was done. The 27-year-old went on to serve out the set, but not without some trouble, doing so on his fourth set points.
Spirit broken, Rublev falls away in second
With both men firing on all cylinders (12 winners to six unforced errors for Medvedev, 16 winners to 11 unforced errors for Rublev), the prospect of an epic unfolding between Medvedev and Rublev was quickly extinguished as Rublev dropped his opening service game in the second set.
It became clear that Rublev’s spirit had been broken, with the Russian going on to concede another break to fall behind 4-1.
In fact, the final point of the fifth game in the second set epitomised this match for Rublev. After blasting groundstrokes and gaining an advantage in the rally, Rublev got to the net to finish the point, only to slip over and end up sitting on the ground, head in hands, broken for the second time in the set and down 4-1 despite playing brilliant tennis.
Speaking on-court after the match, Medvedev was pleased with his performance:
“I played great. I felt good, I managed to put it on the court,” the Russian declared.
“First set was really tough, I managed to get a little bit of an upper hand in the clutch moments.
“I like to play aggressive on my first serve and the next point. Rublev plays such a style where he leaves me no choice. We are both good at this game, against him, it’s the only chance I have. You saw today, it’s run, run, run.
“This tournament is tough, you play top players. Hopefully I can show my best through the whole thing.”
Next up, the Red Group will have a day off on Tuesday, as Novak Djokovic takes on Jannik Sinner with the winner putting one foot in the semi-finals, while at the other end of the Green Group, Holger Rune plays Stefanos Tsitsipas in a battle for survival at the 2023 ATP Finals.
