ATP Finals: Medvedev beats Zverev in three sentences
Alexander Zverevlost to Daniil Medvedev for the fifth time in a row. The German lost 3: 6, 7: 6 (3) and 6: 7 (6) in the second match of the group stage at the ATP Finals.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Nov 16, 2021, 04:49 pm
The match began according to Daniil Medvedev's gusto: The defending champion, who defeated Dominic Thiem in the final in London last year, fended off two break chances from Zverev on his own serve, got the service of his opponent to 2-0. Medvedev was rather successful in the longer rallies from the start, Zverev had to rely mainly on his first serve. Medvedev no longer allowed any chances of a comeback, after 37 minutes of play the first set was history.
Zverev looked a little fresher in the early phase than when he last met Medvedev in the Paris-Bercy semifinals, but still far from the form that had distinguished him in the summer of 2021.
Round two started with a long service game by Zverev, in which the German was able to fend off two break chances. Zverev accompanied the first parade with the first emotional outburst in the match. At 3: 3 there was the next chance for Medvedev, Zverev fought off aggressively. A tiebreak had to bring the decision. And then the Olympic champion from Tokyo made a rather minor volleyball mistake. But immediately managed to equalize to 1: 1. Then the Hawkeye stepped in - and gave Medvedev a foot error via video evidence, the Russian was not happy. At 4: 2 for Zverev, the sides were switched, the 2018 champion could not be deprived of the advantage.
Berrettini or Sinner?
In the decision, the serve was up to 5: 5 - then Zverev worked out a breakball. The return of the German ended up by a hair's breadth out of bounds. Again a tie-break had to serve. This time Zverev started with a mini break, Medvedev countered to 1: 2. But Zverev immediately followed suit, switching sides again with the 4-2 lead. Meanwhile: Medvedev won three points in a row, suddenly led 5: 4. A mistake by the German followed. Zverev fended off Medvedev's first match ball with an ace, the second with a passing ball after Medvedev chose a service volley variant. But Medvedev used the third chance.
Before the meeting in Turin, Daniil Medvedev had won the last four meetings with Zverev. Overall, the head-to-head is now 6: 5 for the man from Moscow.
According to the program, Matteo Berrettini and Hubert Hurkacz will play the second game of the day. However, there is a question mark behind the Italian's appearance after the task against Alexander Zverev. The substitute would be Berrettini's compatriot Jannik Sinner.
turinmap