Group A may be the favorable spot in which to be at the Nitto ATP Finals, but that does not mean Stefanos Tsitsipas is happy about his opening matchup on Monday afternoon.
There has been no love lost for Tsitsipas whenever he has faced Daniil Medvedev–only tennis matches. And he has lost a lot of them. The 21-year-old is a hopeless 0-5 lifetime in the head-to-head series, including 0-2 this season with setbacks in Monte-Carlo and Shanghai. Having previously taken a set on each occasion, Tsitsipas fell to Medvedev 7-6(5), 7-5 at the penultimate Masters 1000 event of 2019.
That victory for Medvedev came during an incredible hot streak that saw him reach six consecutive finals, with three titles (Cincinnati, St. Petersburg, and Shanghai) and three runner-ups (Washington, D.C., Montreal, and the U.S. Open). The 23-year-old Russian has advanced to nine finals overall in 2019 (4-5 record), a big reason why he is up to a career-high ranking of No. 4 in the world and has a chance to finish at No. 3.
It looked like Tsitsipas–not his nemesis–would be the top young challenger to the Big 3 when he made a run to the Australian Open semifinals. Although a summer slump halted the sixth-ranked Greek’s progress, he is back in fine form with a 13-5 record during the fall swing that includes a runner-up (Beijing), two semifinals (Shanghai and Basel), and a quarterfinal (Paris).
“Hopefully, we’re going to have a lot of matches to come throughout our careers, in the later stages of the tournament,” Medvedev said of himself, Tsitsipas, and fellow Group A competitor Alexander Zverev. “Hopefully we can have a lot of great matches to come.”
Pick: Medvedev in 2
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Med in three
It will be overjoyed if Tsitsipas got a win, or even a set off Medvedev would be good, but I won’t hold my breath. Stefanos does not perform well against the Russian. At least I think Stefanos has his shoelace issue solved. There’s just something I’ve always liked about Stefanos and still feel nothing for Medvedev, even though I respect his tennis IQ and talent.
Med in two sets.
MEANT: I will be overjoyed, not It.
Med in 3, I think. Depends on which of them shows up.
Oh, good job Stefanos!! So glad he found a way to get his first win over Medvedev!
�💪� Yes!
Have not seen the match yet. Look forward to seeing it!!
Tsitsipas should play like this more often, he has good hands at the net and should come forward more often, esp against players like Medvedev, Djoko and FAA. His baseline game is not as good as theirs so he shouldn’t be staying at the baseline to rally with him all the time.