Medvedev sees off De Minaur to boost ATP Finals bid

Former champion Daniil Medvedev brushed aside ATP Finals debutant Alex de Minaur yesterday to bounce back from an opening defeat and boost his hopes of making the knock-out phase.The Russian, who lost his first group-stage match to Taylor Fritz, overpowered De Minaur in Turin to win 6-2, 6-4 and leave his opponent on the brink of elimination. Australian De Minaur will be knocked out with a match to spare if the other tie in the Ilie Nastase Group between Jannik Sinner and Fritz goes to three sets later on Tuesday.Medvedev, who lifted the title in 2020, did not face a single break point and broke De Minaur’s serve three times. The fourth seed will next face world number one and title favourite Sinner tomorrow."I decided not to care about it in a good way,” Medvedev said. "If I lose, the season is over, if I win I have another chance on Thursday... I’ll try and do the same the next match, so I don’t care.”Both players battled to holds in their opening service games but Medvedev broke for a 2-1 lead and never looked back. He struck 16 winners in the first set and then lost just two points behind his serve in the second.A break in the ninth game of the second set proved decisive and he closed out victory with another comfortable hold.‘Solid’ Zverez eases past RublevAlexander Zverev opened his campaign by dispatching Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-4 in their round-robin opener. In the afternoon match, Casper Ruud romped through the opening set before fighting back from 5-2 behind in the second to beat an out-sorts Carlos Alcaraz 6-1, 7-5.Germany’s Zverev had last faced Russian Rublev at the same stage of the finals in 2023 and won by the same score.Zverev, a two-time winner of this event in 2018 and 2021, moved to second in the John Newcombe group, behind Norway’s Ruud.The 27-year-old Zverev, the recent winner of the Paris Masters 1000, has climbed back to No.2 in the world this season.After an injury-hit 2022 season he had briefly dropped out of the top 25 in 2023."I was never sure I was going to get back to this level,” Zverev said on the court in Turin. "Second year in a row for me here. I still want to get better. I still want to improve on a few things. We’ll see how next year goes.”Rublev held to love in his first three service games. He won a 13th straight point on serve to open the crucial seventh game, but Zverev then won the next four to break to 15.Zverev did not allow a break point against his serve all match and converted immediately both times he had the chance."I thought it was a very solid match from my end,” said Zverev."Andrey is an incredible player, but everyone who plays here is an unbelievable player."Against anyone here, you have to play your best to have a chance, you have to be solid, mentally strong. I feel like I did that today, I felt like I used my chances quite well and I’m obviously happy with this win.”