Rublev upsets Medvedev in third-set tiebreaker at the ATP Finals
The Russian scored his second win over Medvedev in six career meetings
Andrey Rublev at the 2022 ATP Finals in Turin
In a battle of Russians, Andrey Rublev upset Daniil Medvedev in a three-set battle in their first group match of the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.
Rublev completed the 6-7, 6-3, 7-6 win in two hours and 31 minutes on day 2 of the season finale. This was Rublev’s second win over Medvedev in six career meetings and narrows his head-to-head against his higher-ranked countryman to 4-2 (also his second win in a row).
In the first set, it was Rublev who drew first blood, breaking in the fourth game to set up a 4-1 lead. Medvedev bounced back from 2-5 down to level the set at 5-5. Medvedev played crunch tennis, saving two set points on his own serve while trailing 6-5 and then another five in the tiebreak as he came back from 6-2 down to win it 9-7.
Rublev clinches it on fifth match point Rublev
In the second set, Rublev once again broke first – this time in the third game -and held on to that lead to go up 5-3. In a long ninth game, Rublev broke once again to win the set 6-3 and take the match into a final set.
In the decider, both players held serve throughout to take the match into a deciding tiebreak. As Rublev built a 6-3 lead, Medvedev fought back once again and saved four match points in a row before finally succumbing on his fifth.
After winning the title in Vienna, this was Medvedev’s second loss in a row following an early exit at the Paris Masters. However, with the round robin format, the Russian, who became a father for the first time last month, still has a chance to make it to the semi-finals with matches against Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas later in the week.
