By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, November 14, 2021
Daniil Medvedev beat Hubert Hurkacz 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 launching his ATP Finals title defense with his sixth straight win at the season-ending event.
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One hundred minutes into the match, Daniil Medvedev conjured pure magic from near-oblivion.
Racing from the opposite sideline to run down a drop shot, Medvedev was sliding outside of the doubles alley as he snapped a backhand pass capping a 29-shot rally with pure brilliance.
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Debutant Hubert Hurkacz posed some serious questions, but defending champion Medvedev delivered head-turning answers rallying for a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 in his ATP Finals round-robin opener in Turin.
Medvedev scored his sixth straight win at the season-ending event with a superb serve—and a shrewd return position revision.
The second-ranked Russian ripped 15 aces, won 83 percent of his first-serve points and did not face a break point in avenging his Wimbledon fourth-round loss to Hurkacz. Medvedev managed the faster court conditions and an attacking opponent asserting his own aggression.
“Not easy—especially the court is super fast. I think not the court itself, the balls, the air and the court,” Medvedev told Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj afterward. “In a way I was never under pressure except the tie break.
“I only had two games where I had break points on his serve. In a way lucky, but happy about myself I managed to keep the nerve and break on these two occasions which was enough to win the match.”
Striking cleanly, Medvedev hit four times more winners than errors—32 to 8—and made a key tactical shift moving closer to the baseline to return serve presenting Hurkacz with a different serve sightline.
In his ATP Finals debut, Hurkacz hit 31 winners and attacked with vigor, but could not stress the Russian’s serve in the final set. Medvedev won 20 of 23 serve points in the decisive set, including going 15 for 15 on first serve points.
The speed of the court makes a meaningful first strike a massive advantage, said Medvedev who adopted that mind-set as the match progressed.
"Tactics was not part of the match because I feel like as soon as one guy hits one good shot it can be over," Medvedev said. "So if you make two good shots in a row there is no chance of coming back in the point.
"So all the match I was focused on just making this one good shot at the right moment and most of the times it was enough to win the point."
Medvedev raised his 2021 record to 55-12 equaling Olympic gold medal champion Alexander Zverev and Roland Garros runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas for most wins on the ATP Tour. The US Open champion takes the early lead in Red Group play wih the third-seeded Zverev facing home favorite Matteo Berrettini in tonight’s Red Group match.
A year ago, Medvedev made ATP Finals history becoming the first man to defeat world No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3—Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem—en route to joining Nikolay Davydenko as the second Russian man to rule the prestigious season-ending event in its London farewell.
Playing on a quicker court than this month’s Rolex Paris Masters, Hurkacz got off to a fast start winning five points in a row and stamping two love holds in his first three service games. Miami Open champion Hurkacz played well; he just couldn't crack the Russian's serve.
"Here is way faster [than Paris]," Hurkacz said. "I mean, I think the surface could be close, but the balls make huge difference, so it's quite fast here.
"I mean, Daniil was serving great, I was serving decent apart from two games, so it was, it's quite quick here."
Armed with a 42-7 hard-court record this season as he stepped on court, Medvedev unleashed a flurry of aces speeding through a sub 60-second hold evening after eight games.
Confronting a 15-30 deficit serving at 4-5, Medvedev picked up the pace and belted a forehand into the corner to level 5-all.
Former Paris doubles champion Hurkacz is a more skillful volleyer than Medvedev and more comfortable transitioning to net. The tournament debutant showed forward thinking to create separation in the tie breaker.
Medvedev drew his opponent forward with drop shot then drilled a drive backhand right into the ribcage. Hurkacz repelled the body blow, anticipated the pass and blocked a backhand volley winner for the mini break and a 2-0 lead. A sweet backhand drop volley set up a backhand down the line and Hurkacz followed with a signature play—the backhand down the line followed by a knifing high backhand volley—to go up 5-2.
A Medvedev missed backhand gave Hurkacz four set points. The Russian rejected the first three. Hurkacz barely missed an ace on a first serve, spun in his second and again played the backhand down the line approach. Medvedev narrowly missed a forehand pass as the highest-ranked Polish man in history took a one-set lead.
Hurkacz hammered his backhand down the line effectively, won 11 of 13 trips to net and 24 of 27 first-serve points in a 51-minute opening set devoid of a break point.
Failing to sniff a break point in the first set, Medvedev moved closer to the baseline to return at the start of the second. Adopting aggressive positioning worked as Hurkacz poked a reply into the tape then sailed an error. The second seed had the first break of the day and a 2-0 lead.
The early break enabled Medvedev to swing more freely.
The reigning champion was finishing down the line more frequently and found his groove on first serve. Medvedev threw down his second love hold for the set extending to 5-2.
On his third set point, Medvedev slammed a 119 mph second serve and stung a diagonal forehand forcing a decider after 82 minutes of play. A frustrated Hurkacz flung his Yonex racquet in the air and caught it as he tried resetting for the decider.
Hours after Polish compatriot Iga Swiatek took world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka to three sets in the WTA Finals in Guadalajara, Hurkacz had men’s No. 2 Medvedev in a third set in Turin.
Medvedev’s mind is one of his best weapons. The Russian is a shrewd problem solver, who recognizes the most important moments of matches while they’re occurring.
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Knowing a fast start was vital, Medvedev exploited a pair of forehand errors for break points. Targeting the Pole’s spinny forehand wing again, Medvedev thumped a smash to start the final set with the banging break.
Medvedev amped up the pace of his serve and forehand to take charge today. The 6’6” Russian rolled through three straight love holds stretching his lead to 5-3. Medvedev served out his sixth straight ATP Finals win in two hours.
A master of the counter-strike, Medvedev played successful role reversal today.
The defending champion predicts the bigger servers and aggressive players who can adapt on the fly should thrive in on the faster Turin hard-court this week.
"It's not easy because that’s not exactly the game I like, but you know that's why we have different surfaces and different conditions," Medvedev said. "During the tournament you can get more into it and go back to your style of tennis.
"Here I tried to be aggressive because I felt like as soon as I gave him a shot to work with, which usually I like to do, here it doesn’t work like this: you get punished. So I tried not to do it. The serve helped me a lot. Two games where he gave me small chances on his serve and I managed to take it and I’m really happy about it."