Turin [Italy] : After winning all four sets he’s played at the ATP Finals in building a 2-0 group-stage record, Daniil Medvedev is now eager to build on that conquest when he encounters Carlos Alcaraz on Friday.
Medvedev’s victory over Alexander Zverev on Wednesday made him the first guy to reach the Turin semifinals this year.
“I’m going to try my best to play Carlos. The moment you relax and say to yourself, ‘Maybe this match I can go easier,’ you can lose all the rhythm. That’s how tennis is,” Medvedev was quoted as saying by ATP.
During his encounter with the 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic in Turin last year, Medvedev witnessed directly the importance of sustaining winning momentum. Similar to Medvedev, the Serbian was up 2-0 going into that match and had advanced to the semifinals. But in a three-set struggle, Djokovic never gave up, winning the tie-break in the last set to secure his record-tying sixth Nitto ATP Finals title two matches later.
“Novak last year against me, [it was] physically a very tough match. He could have said at one moment, ‘Whatever, I lose the match, I’m still in first place.’ But he didn’t. I think it’s a great example for me to try to do just my best on Friday and try to win,” Medvedev said.
Although Medvedev’s path to the semi-finals will not be impacted by the outcome, Alcaraz and Zverev’s fates will be greatly affected. With a 1-1 record going into the last round of group play, Zverev will play Andrey Rublev to end his group campaign.
“On Friday, I’ll be the No. 1 Daniil Medvedev fan there is on the planet — for a change,” Zverev said with a smile.