2023-11-15 22:46:00
Alexander Zverev roared, hit his racket and shook his head: The Olympic champion missed the chance of an early semi-final ticket at the ATP Finals.
At the prestigious end of the year in Turin, Hamburg lost in its second group game to Russian Daniil Medvedev 6:7 (7:9), 4:6. But: With a success in the third group game, the German number one can still reach the semi-finals, but they need help from Medvedev.
In the final games of the round robin on Friday, Zverev will face Andrey Rublev, who has already been eliminated after the 5:7, 2:6 defeat against Carlos Alcaraz on Wednesday afternoon. A win is mandatory in order to preserve the semi-final chance. Medvedev also has to beat Alcaraz, second in the world rankings.
“I hope I can regenerate well and be ready for it,” said Medvedev with regard to the duel with the Spaniard: “This tournament is treacherous; I’m already in the semi-finals, but I also want to stay in the rhythm. Especially against Carlos, a 20-year-old, you don’t necessarily want to end up with a tiebreak in the third set around midnight. I hope I can show my best tennis.”
Zverev bites his teeth into his feared opponent
Meanwhile, the Russian remains Zverev’s feared opponent. In six direct meetings in 2023, Medvedev won five times.
Zverev started on Wednesday evening with fresh self-confidence, but got off to a bad start and immediately gave up his first service game.
After that, the German gradually fought his way into the game. Zverev played more aggressively, more consistently, faster. However, in the crucial moments he made unnecessary mistakes again. In the tiebreak of the first round he was already 4:1 ahead, missed two set points – and then lost it 7:9.
Medvedev: “Both sets were really close at the end”
The second set continued to be intense and close. While Zverev was able to rely on his serve again, his return did not meet the highest standards.
In the end, Medvedev used his first match point – and made everything clear after 1:45 hours.
“Both sets were really close at the end,” Medvedev analyzed afterwards: “I’ve already lost a few games like this this year, so I’m happy that I can still win these duels.”
Rublev completely freaks out when he loses to Alcaraz
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