Medvedev looking good

TURIN (Italy) • Reigning ATP Finals champion Daniil Medvedev yesterday moved closer towards securing his semi-final berth after grinding out a 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (8-6) win over Alexander Zverev.

The Russian won his seventh successive Finals match, the longest streak since world No. 1 Novak Djokovic won seven in a row from 2015-16, in 2hr 36min.

Medvedev outlasted his German opponent, the Olympic men's singles gold medallist, firing 14 aces and saving all four break points.

This was the US Open champion's fifth successive win over Zverev to move to the top of the Red Group after two victories here.

The pale and serious looking Medvedev missed two match points after struggling from 4-2 down to 6-4 up in what was a see-saw final tie-break that he described post-match as "amazing".

"I wanted to do something brave at 6-5," he said, allowing himself to smile about his double slip.

"But that was a match to remember, just amazing," said Zverev, who beat Poland's Hubert Hurkacz in his opening encounter.

Italian Matteo Berrettini, who was scheduled to play Hurkacz, yesterday pulled out of the Finals just hours before the clash.

The Wimbledon finalist suffered an abdominal injury in his opener against Zverev, which prompted his retirement and was too much for the world No. 7 to overcome.

In a posting on his Instagram page yesterday, Berrettini said: "I thought, thought, cried and finally decided...

"My Finals end here, I am destroyed, I never thought I would have to give up the most important tennis event ever held in Italy in this way.

"The truth is that as much as I wanted to play in front of you once again, I felt and therefore decided that my body is not ready to face the challenges that lie ahead...

"Thank you for your continued support and for the thousands of messages you have sent me, you have moved me."

Compatriot Jannik Sinner will replace Berrettini as first alternate.

Meanwhile, Stefanos Tsitsipas faces Casper Ruud in their second group match today, with both players fighting to stay in the hunt for a semi-final spot.

While the pair lost their openers, Ruud's defeat by top-ranked Novak Djokovic was not unexpected, unlike Tsitsipas, who was upset 6-4, 6-4 by Russian Andrey Rublev on Monday.

The world No. 4 has, however, vowed to bounced back as he seeks to repeat his 2019 Finals triumph.

"I'm excited. I still want to play good tennis," the Greek, who is third in the Green Group, said.

A victory today will set him up nicely for a deciding match with five-time Finals winner Djokovic and this year's French Open finalist is confident of staying around.

"It is a format that most players are not familiar with because we don't get to play it very often with round-robin rules, and sets can be important," Tsitsipas, who is making his third appearance at the event, said.

"I like it because it gives me chances and I can improve and get better match by match."

In today's earlier group match, Rublev takes on Djokovic for the first time, a prospect the world No. 5 is not relishing. On the Serb, the joint-record 20-time Slam champion, he said: "He's one of the greatest players in history, so I don't know what to say.

"I hope I'm going to win a couple of games, but the reality is the only thing I can do is to do my best and believe in myself."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS

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