Nitto ATP Finals alternate Jannik Sinner plays his second rubber against U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev on Thursday night in Turin.
Jannik Sinner got into the Nitto ATP Finals via the back door. The young Italian replaced countryman Matteo Berrettini, who withdrew from the event with an abdominal injury. Opportunistic as ever, Sinner made the most of the situation with a 6-2, 6-2 drubbing of Hubert Hurkacz.
Sinner hasn’t had much to cheer about in his other two encounters with Daniil Medvedev. Both meetings came indoors, and the Russian won both in fairly routine fashion. Of course, Medvedev also already has his position secured as the winner of the Red Group, and as such he probably won’t be as likely to run himself ragged as he might otherwise be.
Sinner probably has a decent shot at an “upset.” He is playing in front of the home crowd and Medvedev has nothing on the line. The Italian also played a fantastic match against Hurkacz earlier in the week, so the lightning-fast surface seems to his liking well enough.
For his part, Sinner must hope luck is on his side. In order for Thursday evening’s outcome to matter, Hurkacz has to defeat Alexander Zverev in the day’s early match. Should Zverev win (the likely outcome), the Medvedev-Sinner match is a dead rubber and the encounter will be for the pleasure of the Italian crowd and nothing else.
Cheryl pick: Sinner in 3
Ricky pick: Medvedev in 2
WWW?
Med is through anyway, I guess the result will depend on his motivation.
Dunno what the H2H is.