Turin, Nov 12 Daniil Medvedev further outlined his credentials as one of the Tour’s sharpest tacticians as he defeated Australia's Alex de Minaur in straight sets here on Tuesday, recovering from his opening match loss at the ATP Finals.
The fourth seed produced an expertly measured performance to prevail over De Minaur 6-2, 6-4, and get up and running at the season finale. Medvedev, the 2020 champion, had all the answers in a chess-like battle to improve to 7-3 in the pair's ATP head-to-head rivalry.
Medvedev looked transformed from the erratic player who fell to a straight-sets defeat to Taylor Fritz in his opening-round match. In his clash with De Minaur, he did not face a single break point, according to Infosys ATP Stats, and outhit his opponent 24 winners to 10.
In a performance in sharp contrast with his opening match defeat to Fritz, Medvedev was ruthless in attack throughout the encounter. The 28-year-old was particularly strong throughout the opening set, winning 20 out of 31 baseline points.
The second set was more evenly contested, but Medvedev came alive in a crucial ninth game to break serve and close in on his first Top 10 win on hard courts since March.
Medvedev's 78-minute triumph means that Taylor Fritz could qualify for the semifinals if he overcomes World No. 1 Jannik Sinner in their clash. Medvedev will seek to bolster his hopes of progressing from the John Newcombe Group when he takes on the Italian on Thursday.
The loss is a blow to De Minaur’s hopes of advancing to the knockout stage on his debut appearance in Turin. The 25-year-old, who will face Fritz in his final round-robin match, is now 0-2 in the group.
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