tennis
Too many easy mistakes: Zverev loses at ATP finals
Alexander Zverev lost to Daniil Medvedev in two close sets. photo
© Marco Alpozzi/LaPresse via ZUMA Press/dpa
Daniil Medvedev remains a feared opponent of Alexander Zverev. He suffered an unnecessary defeat at the ATP finals. Now he has to worry about the semi-finals.
In his opening match on Monday, Zverev prevailed in three sets against Wimbledon winner Carlos Alcaraz from Spain.
Medvedev, however, is already in the semi-finals after his second victory. The world number three converted her first match point after 1:45 hours. Alcaraz had previously won 7:5, 6:2 against the Russian Andrei Rublyov, largely effortlessly, and thus celebrated his first ever win at the ATP Finals.
The decision about moving forward will now be made on Friday. Zverev no longer has a place in the semi-finals in his own hands. Only if he wins against Rublev, who has already been eliminated, and Medvedev wins against Alcaraz, will Zverev reach the semi-finals. Otherwise, the tennis year is over for him.
Medvedev with a better start to the game
Zverev and Medvedev faced each other for the 18th time at the Pala Alpitour. “I always feel like I’m playing against him,” the Olympic champion had previously said. It was the fifth comparison in the annual conclusion of the eight best players of the season alone. Two years ago, Zverev and Medvedev met twice in Turin. In the group stage, Medvedev won in three sets, but in the final Zverev prevailed in two sets and won the title at the ATP Finals for the second time.
This time Zverev got off to a weak start and immediately gave up his first service game. The German number one didn’t seem completely alert at the beginning and made too many mistakes. Zverev only improved towards the middle of the sentence, but from then on he was fully there. Zverev played aggressively, went to the net more often than usual and constantly put Medvedev under pressure.
Zverev cannot use two set balls
In the tiebreak, Zverev quickly moved ahead to 4-1. But then he made a very slight volley error that brought Medvedev back into the set. Nevertheless, Zverev won two set points, but he was unable to use them. Instead, the Russian won the first round in his first attempt after just over an hour.
Zverev and Medvedev were also equal in the second set. When the score was 4:4, Zverev missed a break point and in the decisive phase he again had a few lapses in concentration. As so often, Medvedev took advantage of this coldly and took his 11th victory in the 18th duel with Zverev.