Marvellous Daniil Medvedev fires Russia to ATP Cup win | Tennis News – Times of India

MELBOURNE: Daniil Medvedev loved the proper Australian Open preparation as he fired Russia to victory within the $7.5 million ATP Cup with a dominant 6-4 6-2 win over Italy’s Matteo Berrettini in Melbourne on Sunday.
With Andrey Rublev having thrashed Fabio Fognini 6-1 6-2 within the opening singles, world quantity 4 Medvedev sealed the tie 2-0 at Rod Laver Arena because the rampaging Russians stormed to the title undefeated.
While excellent within the first set, Medvedev reached one other degree within the second, outpointing world quantity 10 Berrettini with a procession of glowing winners as he roared to a 5-1 lead.
Berrettini saved two match factors and held serve to claw again a sport, leaping within the air with an ironic celebration and a wry grin at his workforce mates.
Medvedev let a 3rd match level disappear within the following sport however sealed it on the fourth with an enormous serve down the ‘T’.
Former U.S. Open finalist Medvedev soaked up the applause from a small however appreciative crowd and congratulated Italy for having reached the ultimate a yr after they failed to advance from their group.
“I think I saw the most crowd out of all our four matches,” the rangy 24-yr-outdated stated on the trophy celebration.
“Hopefully during the Australian Open it’s going to be the same.”
The Australian Open, the primary Grand Slam of the yr, begins on Monday with lowered attendance of 30,000 followers a day at Melbourne Park, round 50% decrease than standard as a result of of COVID-19 protocols.
Russia have been the one workforce with two gamers ranked within the high 10, and it confirmed as they made brief work of Japan, Argentina and Germany on the way in which to the ultimate.
With Medvedev and Rublev profitable their singles within the closing, participant-captain Evgeny Donskoy and Aslan Karatsev weren’t wanted for the doubles tie.
World quantity eight Rublev had failed to beat Fognini in three earlier matches on hardcourts however hammered the Italian on Sunday to ship Russia hurtling towards the trophy.
He completed with a 4-0 file for the match, dropping just one set, in an impressive help position.
Italy captain Vincenzo Santopadre joked that the ultimate was a “disaster” however they have been nonetheless thrilled with their week.
“It was something unbelievable to have these feelings, to make me feel these emotions so strongly, thanks guys,” he stated.
Berrettini, who was undefeated in singles heading into the ultimate, stated he was “actually very tired”.
“We had a lot of fun, great tennis … I hope you guys enjoyed this week because it was really nice to see you out there,” he stated to the followers.
“It’s been a tough year and to see you guys there cheering for us is something that we should really appreciate.”