Djokovic battles to lung-busting win over Medvedev to extend perfect record at ATP Finals

With his place in the semi-finals already assured, Novak Djokovic could easily have taken his foot off the pedal in his final group match at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin on Friday.

Not a bit of it.

The former world No 1 was forced to work much harder than he would have liked as he beat Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-7 (5) 7-6 (2) to cement his place on top of the Red Group with three wins out of three.

Medvedev served for the match at 5-4 in the decider but Djokovic broke back and then played a brilliant tiebreak to seal victory after three hours, 11 minutes of lung-busting tennis.

“Not physically so well in the third set” (Djokovic)

“Huge relief,” Djokovic said. “Daniil and I had some battles in the past, I knew it was his last match of the season, he wasn’t going to want to finish the season with a loss.

“I didn’t feel physically so well in the third set to be honest. I’m really proud of being able to find the last drop of energy and necessary focus in order to come back into the match.”

The Serb will play Taylor Fritz in the semi-finals on Saturday, but after the longest match he has ever played at the ATP Finals, the question is, how much energy will he have left and how much has the battle with Medvedev taken out of him.

Djokovic on the case from the start

Right from the first point, Djokovic looked concentrated, focused, intent on maintaining his momentum and notching another win.

With 200 ranking points for each group match, Djokovic could yet end the year back in the top five, despite not being able to play at the Australian Open and US Opens, through his refusal to be vaccinated against Covid-19, and the fact that Wimbledon offered no ranking points due to its ban on Russian and Belarusian players.

Medvedev, who beat Djokovic to win his first Grand Slam at the US Open last year, had little to play for and lacked his usual intensity in the opener.

Djokovic threatened to break at 3-2 and though he missed a forehand return, he didn’t have to wait too long. He broke for 5-3 and then served out comfortably to clinch the first set.

Medvedev fights hard as Djokovic tires

To his credit, Medvedev continued to fight and made Djokovic work for his win but the Russian was having to work much harder on serve just to stay in contention.

That’s despite the fact he was making more than 80 percent of his first serves in the second set.

Djokovic had a chance to break at 4-4 but Medvedev saved it with a big forehand winner and Djokovic then left the court to fix what seemed like a contact lenses problem.

The Serb seemed to have lost some rhythm when he came back and Medvedev had a set point, only for Djokovic to close the door with a fine serve and volley. He saved a second with an ace down the T. A loose backhand gifted Medvedev a third set point and Djokovic saved it with a flashing cross-court forehand winner to end a 33-shot rally.

Medvedev regrouped to hold serve and Djokovic did the same to force a tiebreak. The Russian led 5-3 but Djokovic hit back to 5-5, only to miss a forehand volley off a backhand pass that would have gone long.

Medvedev took full advantage as Djokovic netted a backhand to make it one set all.

Djokovic looks physically spent, but still wins

At the change of ends, Djokovic’s right arm was visibly shaking and he was gulping in the air, trying to get his breath back.

For a moment it looked like the Serb might be considering pulling out, protecting himself for his semi-final on Saturday, but he carried on.

Medvedev looked the fresher of the two but Djokovic forced the first break point, at 4-3, only for the Russian to save it with an ace and go on to hold.

Djokovic looked out on his feet at times, doubling over on a number of occasions, especially in his service game at 4-4, when his resistance finally gave out, Medvedev breaking for the first time in the match.

But just as happened against Stefanos Tsitsipas, Medvedev could not close out the match as Djokovic bounced back, breaking back for 5-5 with nice touch on the volley, before holding from 0-30 to nudge ahead again.

Medvedev held but Djokovic then dominated the tiebreak, clinching victory with a brilliant forehand down the line, leaving the Russian heading home after losing all three of his matches in deciding tiebreaks.

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