(Turin) Unbeaten in two matches in Turin, defending champion Daniil Medvedev advanced to the semi-finals of the ATP Finals on Tuesday, beating 2018 tournament champion Alexander Zverev.
Medvedev, who won his first career major title in New York in September, took more than two and a half hours to overcome Zverev 6-3, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (6). He joined the German at the top of the ATP with 56 wins this season.
“It’s definitely one of the games to remember,” Medvedev admitted. When you win 8-6 in the third set tiebreaker, when it was 4-2 for him, I thought, if he serves a few aces, it’s over. I did 6-4 and thought, OK this is my time now. Then he came back to 6-6… It’s an incredible feeling. There isn’t much to say about the game, other than incredible. ”
Later Tuesday, Italy’s Jannik Sinner defeated Pole Hubert Hurkacz 6-2 and 6-2, including two breakages in each set.
Sinner, who is only 20, replaced his compatriot Matteo Berrettini. The latter had to throw the towel against Zverev on Sunday, due to an abdominal injury. He eventually withdrew from the tournament.
Instead of signing his name on the lens of a television camera, as most winners do, Sinner wrote, “Matteo, you are an idol.”
“I’m playing this tournament for Matteo,” Sinner said emotionally in his on-court interview after the game.
Sinner later said he learned he was going to replace Berrettini four hours before the game started.
“It all happened really quickly, honestly,” said Sinner.
“Around 5 pm, I found out that I was going to play. Matteo sent me a message saying “go warm up, good luck and have fun!” He is an incredible person, besides being a great player. ”
A battle
Helped by the fast surface of the Pala Alpitour, Medvedev notched 14 aces, against 18 for the German.
Medvedev had to struggle from the start, and he avoided three break points in his first two games on serve. He then broke Zverev to take the lead in the 3-0 set. The world No. 2 sealed the outcome of the first set by shooting a sublime backhand along the line.
Medvedev looked to be heading for victory in the second set after conceding just two points in his first five games on serve. Zverev, however, hung on and saved three breakage balls to cause the holding of a final round.
During the third inning, Medvedev had to save a breakage ball to prevent Zverev from serving for the match, and he won the tiebreaker on his third match point – when the German hit his backhand straight into the net. .