Daniil Medvedev’s 2020 campaign has been nothing compared to what he produced in 2019. But that might be exactly why he is primed for a much better performance at the Nitto ATP Finals.
Last year, Medvedev engineered an incredible streak of six consecutive final appearances (won three) but then ran out of gas at the Paris Masters (lost his opening match to Jeremy Chardy) and in London (went 0-3 in round-robin competition). This season, the fourth-ranked Russian has played much less tennis due to both fewer wins and far fewer tournaments as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Being well-rested for the stretch run has already paid off in the form of a title on the indoor hard courts of Paris. Medvedev’s run included a 6-3, 6-1 quarterfinal rout of fellow London participant Diego Schwartzman and he beat Alexander Zverev 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 in the final.
A second consecutive match against Zverev will come when they meet again on Monday night inside the O2 Arena. Zverev leads the head-to-head series 5-2, but Medvedev has won two of their last three encounters (also in the 2019 Shanghai Masters title match via a 6-4, 6-1 decision). They faced each other a few weeks later in the year-end championship and Zverev won that round-robin showdown 6-4, 7-6(4).
Although Medvedev is in much better shape for this clash than he was last fall in London, Zverev is also in stellar form. The seventh-ranked German captured back-to-back titles in Cologne prior to his runner-up performance at the Paris Masters.
All things considered, this should be another good one between familiar rivals. But Medvedev may have a slight edge, just as he did in Paris. He really wasn’t that bad last year in London, losing close two-setters against Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas before leading Rafael Nadal 5-1 in the third set only to collapse the rest of the way. Now that he is well-rested both mentally and physically this time around, those near-misses will turn into wins.
Pick: Medvedev in 3
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Medvedev in three
Like I said before, I think that this will be over in 2 and whomever wins it will win the group as well. I’d rather go with Zverev again, especially since Medvedev is again the favourite so it’s more profitable to bet on the ‘German’.
Great match up….Zv in 3.
Really enjoyed that performance from Meddy in the 2nd set. Looked like he was having fun changing things up, a bit of trickery. First set both players looked exhausted.
Once again the Zverev serve lets him down ..pity