Medvedev, De Minaur seek crucial win at Nitto ATP Finals
Action from the 2024 Nitto ATP Finals continues to ramp up on Tuesday, with players from Ilie Nastase Group returning for the second set of round-robin matches.
Day 1 winners Jannik Sinner and Taylor Fritz will reprise their recent US Open final, with the winner taking pole position in the Ilie Nastase Group. Daniil Medvedev and Alex de Minaur, who suffered opening-day defeats are looking for a critical win to work their way back into semi-final contention.
In the doubles, Mike Bryan Group will also play host to some intriguing meetings. Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson will continue their debut run in Turin against Wimbledon champions Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten before second seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos face Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic.
[1] Jannik Sinner (ITA) vs [5] Taylor Fritz (USA)
Fritz will be hoping that lightning does not strike twice when he steps on court against home favourite Sinner on Tuesday evening at the Inalpi Arena.
Sinner, the No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, won the pair’s most recent encounter in the championship match at Flushing Meadows in September and will head into their upcoming clash oozing with confidence, having won his past seven matches.
Making his first appearance in Italy in 12 months, Sinner shook off a sluggish start to surge past De Minaur in his opener. Fritz also showed some of his most impressive tennis with a steely win over Medvedev, in which his serve was the standout weapon.
Buoyed by the home crowd, and with the 2-1 lead in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, the Italian will have the slight edge. Sinner will be eager to bolster his chances of securing a maiden trophy at the season finale with a victory over Fritz, but has acknowledged the task that lies ahead.
“I have to be at my top if I want to win or get close,” Sinner said of his clash with Fritz. “It’s going to be tough, this I know. I know that I will have to raise my level, so hopefully I can do that. I feel like he has improved a lot in the past one and a half, two years. He is serving much better, hitting the ball very, very hard. He’s a great competitor.”
Fritz is making his second appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals, having made the semi-finals in 2022. Although he is no stranger in Turin, the World No. 5 enters this tournament with a different mindset.
”My first time [in Turin]I was an alternate, no one really expected much of me,” said Fritz. “I was playing with house money, no pressure. Now, I’m putting more expectation on myself to do better, I’m just a better player.”
[4] Daniil Medvedev vs [7] Alex de Minaur (AUS)
Debutant De Minaur was thrown in at the deep end in his Turin opener against Sinner, but showed glimpses of the tennis that has earned him the right to be here. The 25-year-old now faces a different test in 2020 champion Medvedev, who is making his sixth consecutive appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals.
While Medvedev’s vast experience in competing at this tournament outweighs De Minaur’s by quite some way, the Australian will take confidence from winning three of their past five Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings, despite trailing 6-3 overall. Their first clash came in the Sydney final in 2018, where Medvedev spoiled the Australian party to clinch his maiden ATP Tour trophy.
“We’ve played a lot of matches and had a lot of battles,” De Minaur said of his rivalry with Medvedev. “I’ve always looked forward to those matches because I think we are both tacticians out there when we play each other.”
In a clash that is destined to produce gruelling baseline exchanges from start to finish, Medvedev will aim to outfox De Minaur. After their respective losses on Sunday, both men are bidding for a vital win to increase their chances of progressing out of the Ilie Nastase group.
Doubles action
Australians Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson will bid to back up the impressive start they made in their debut appearance in Turin as they face Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten in a rematch of this year’s Wimbledon final. Both teams secured opening wins in Mike Bryan Group on Sunday, so it is destined to be another high-quality battle, with their Lexus ATP Head2Head series tied at 1-1.
Second seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos will open the evening session against Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic as both teams seek their first win at this year’s event. It is a replay of the 2020 semi-finals, which Koolhof/Mektic won in straight-sets en route to lifting the trophy.
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