Lorenzo Topello
November 10th – 3.55pm – TORINO
Taylor Fritz takes the victory, Medvedev loses his head and makes his debut in the worst possible way in front of the crowd at the Inalpi Arena. The Turin Finals begin like this, with the American winning 6-4 6-3 in an hour and twenty minutes. But above all with the embarrassing show of the Russian who breaks his racket at the end of the first set after having committed 3 double faults in a row and pulls the plug in the crucial moment of the second set, when he ends up down by a break and provokes the chair umpire by throwing repeatedly the racket in the air and dropping it amidst boos from the audience. First success in the Nastase group for Fritz who will watch Sinner’s debut against De Minaur this evening: if Jannik wins, he will challenge the American on Tuesday evening.
medvedev, how many double faults
—
In front of the warm crowd at the Inalpi Arena, the games were immediately balanced: Fritz started in trouble, but avoided granting break points, while Medvedev started with a double fault but recovered and made it 1-1. Taylor and Daniil prove to be complementary: the former helps himself with the serve but on more than one occasion wastes during the exchange, the Russian has a bad day with the latter (also committing 7 double faults in the first set) but in defense he is rocky and responds with ease to Fritz’s lunges. Balance until 4-4. The American also holds serve in the next flash game and then passes Daniil: the Russian, leading 30-15, suddenly loses his mind. He commits 3 consecutive double faults and hands the first set to his opponent. Fritz closes 6-4, a furious Medvedev destroys the racket and once again shows the signs of nervousness already seen in Bercy.
Watch all the ATP Finals matches streaming only on NOW
boos for the Russian
—
Ready-go and in the second set the depth of the response would yield two break situations in favor of the Russian, but Taylor defends himself “Medvedev-style” with the best exchange of the match: 30 shots which become a manifestation of the good defensive resistance of Fritz and the confusion that seems to reside in the Russian’s head. At the start of the second set the errors increase on both sides, as do the break points: Fritz concedes one more, but gets away with an error from his opponent. Daniil gets into even more trouble by leaving two, but cancels them with a double serve and volley: 2-2. Medvedev’s tennis is grumpy and finally becomes provocative: the Russian alternates accelerations and gratuitous errors with his backhand which put him in trouble in the sixth game, when Fritz takes the break with a precise and lucky lob. It’s 4-2 for the American, Medvedev throws the racket against the advertising boards and collects the penalty point in the next game: immediately 15-0 for Fritz, with the Russian continuing to provoke the chair umpire by throwing the racket in the air and making it fall several times. Medvedev’s match lasts another couple of games: the Russian holds serve, the audience applauds him above all to prolong the show and save themselves from further theatrics. But Fritz, who serves for the match in the ninth game, doesn’t waver: the American remains lucid and closes 6-3, Daniil exits amidst the copious boos of the Inalpi Arena. For the Russian, there really was no worse way to start.
