(Tennis news) In his opening match, the Russian easily defeated his countryman and close friend Andrey Rublev, coming back from an early scare to overcome Zverev 7-6[7], 6-4 on Wednesday night.

In the tie-breaker of their 18th high-level match, Zverev had two set points, but the German wasted one with a careless forehand error and Medvedev saved the second.

Zverev would also have to rue a lost opening in the second set, when in the ninth game he lost serve while attempting to tie the match against Medvedev after failing to convert a breakpoint.

“It was a very tough match mentally. I started very well, I was playing well. He was kind of not there yet, but at one moment he stepped up his game and at this moment, for whatever reason, I started playing a little bit worse for a short period of time,” Medvedev said on the court.

“I’m happy that I managed to regroup and play better at the end of the first set. The end of both sets was very tight… In the tie-break he had set point on his serve. I’m happy because this year I might have lost some matches like this. I’m happy to be able to win.”

After winning in 2020 and losing to Zverev in the 2021 final before his round-robin exit the following year, Medvedev has now advanced to the ATP Finals knockout stages for the third time.

The third seed has the opportunity to secure the top spot in the group on Friday when he takes on Carlos Alcaraz. Rublev was defeated 7-5 6-2 earlier on Wednesday, therefore eliminating him from semi-final contention.
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