Defending champion Daniil Medvedev recovered from a set down to defeat Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz on Sunday on the opening day of the ATP Fina...
Defending champion Daniil Medvedev recovered from a set down to defeat Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz on Sunday on the opening day of the ATP Finals in Turin but said he had felt “zero pressure”.
The Russian second seed triumphed 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 over seventh seeded Hurkacz.
“I had zero break points to save, so in a way I was never under pressure,” said US Open champion Medvedev who fired 15 aces in the match.
“I had only two games on Hubert’s serve where I had break points. Super happy to make this work and that I managed to get both breaks.”
Hurkacz has enjoyed a breakout season, winning his first Masters event in Miami and making the semi-finals at Wimbledon after beating Roger Federer in the last-eight. He is appearing in the end-of-season showpiece for the first time.
“I’ll just try to stay positive,” he said. “I lost this match, but I’ll think about the positives and what I can do better and prepare for the next one.”
Medvedev has now won 23 of his last 26 matches.
Later Sunday, sixth-seeded Matteo Berrettini of Italy saw his challenge suffer a painful end when injury forced him to retire against Alexander Zverev.
The German third seed was 7-6 (9/7), 1-0 ahead when Wimbledon runner-up Berrettini called it...
