Andrey Rublev played a brilliant opening set against Daniil Medvedev but was second best in the key moments in an eventual 6-4, 6-2 defeat on Monday night at the Nitto ATP Finals. While the fifth seed was pleased with his level during the first set, he was left to rue the few untimely errors that cost him.

“The feeling was that as soon as we had a rally, I was playing well and I had great chances,” said Rublev, who missed out on seven break points in his last two return games of the opening set. “I was not able to use my serve really well to open the court. When he had important moments, I think almost all the break points he saved with a good serve.

“I had some chances, a drive volley that I missed. I had an opportunity [at] 5-4, 0/30, I had quite an easy drive forehand, and I didn’t hit it clean, and the rally continued. He played really well. Also the [service game] that I lost in the first set, I missed two easy balls. One was a backhand in the middle of the court, then break point. Those things in the end make a huge difference.”

The defeat dropped Rublev to 2-7 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Medvedev, but he is becoming more accustomed to facing the unique challenge his close friend presents on the court.

“I would say the more I play with him, the better I feel, because I start to get used to those things and get less crazy compared our first matches,” Rublev said. “The more I play with him, the more it gets normal for me that it’s coming [back] one extra ball, one extra ball. But in the end, today was quite easy for him.”

While Rublev managed to defeat Medvedev in a third-set tie-break last year in Turin, he can only hope to take lessons in defeat this time.

“In general I feel that we always have some close matches,” he said. “The more I play, even if the score is different, from the baseline I feel every time better and better against him.

“The question is more about the mental part in those important moments, to keep focussed, to use those chances when I have these balls, drive forehands, whatever, volleys. When he gives you these extra balls, be focussed to finish these points.”

The Green Group action resumes on Tuesday at the Nitto ATP Finals, where Stefanos Tsitsipas and Holger Rune seek their first win of this year’s season finale in a crucial afternoon clash. In the evening session, defending champion Novak Djokovic and home favourite Jannik Sinner seek to maintain their perfect starts in Turin.

[6] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs. [8] Holger Rune (DEN)

The 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion Tsitsipas reiterated his desire to stay in Turin past the group stage after his opening defeat to Jannik Sinner. The Greek will have to do something he has never done before to avoid sliding to 0-2 in Green Group, however: defeat Rune.

The 20-year-old Dane prevailed in both his previous Lexus Head2Head meetings with Tsitsipas, at Roland Garros and in Stockholm in 2022. While both players have struggled to produce their best level consistently across the second half of this year, Tsitsipas is expecting Rune to bring his best to the Pala Alpitour on Tuesday.

“Every single opponent is at their best right now,” said the Greek on Sunday. “I’m not entering the court thinking that I might get a chance or an opportunity or having someone under-play of what their potential is.

“Holger has been pretty good against me in some of the encounters and matches that we’ve had against each other. I believe that he’s a tough competitor and someone that fights really hard on the court. Whether he’s up or down, he will not give up.”

Rune will be buoyed by the way he pushed six-time champion Novak Djokovic in his opening match, despite ultimately losing a three-hour, four-minute thriller. The Nitto ATP Finals debutant was aggressive on return in fast conditions throughout his match against the World No. 1 and will hope he can do the same on Tuesday against the big-serving Tsitsipas.

The eighth-seeded Rune will also hope to draw on memories of his previous wins against Tsitsipas as he eyes his maiden Nitto ATP Finals match win.

“I have good memories with him on the court,” Rune told ATP Media at the pre-tournament media day in Turin. “The first time at Roland Garros, the second time in Stockholm. I think he’s very hungry now. He’s been saying [that] a lot, and you know that he’s ready to go out there and compete. So I’m expecting a tough battle from him. He’s a great player and he’s been tough for many years.”

Tsitsipas holds more experience than Rune at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he is competing for the fifth consecutive year. He has not moved past the group stage since his title run in 2019, however, and arguably appeared less comfortable in his straight-sets defeat to Sinner on Sunday than Rune did against Djokovic.

The round-robin format at the Nitto ATP Finals means progressing to the semi-finals after two defeats is possible, but who can reignite their campaign Monday with a confidence-boosting victory?

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. [4] Jannik Sinner (ITA)

Hugely popular in Italy and a speaker of the local language, Novak Djokovic is used to channelling plenty of fans’ support in Turin.

That is not likely to be the case on Tuesday night, when the World No. 1 steps out to take on home favourite Jannik Sinner inside the Pala Alpitour. Both players enter their fourth Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting fresh from an opening win in Green Group, and both could seal a semi-final spot with victory.

Sinner will advance if he downs Djokovic in straight sets, or with a three-set triumph combined with Tsitsipas beating Rune earlier in the day. The 22-year-old Italian is searching for his first tour-level win against the six-time Nitto ATP Finals champion Djokovic and will hope to embrace home support, including from his fan club ‘The Carota Boys’, as well as he did in easing past Tsitsipas in his opening match.

“The atmosphere was really, really nice,” Sinner said after his opening win. “It’s huge pleasure for me to play here in Turin, in Italy. Obviously, a little bit more pressure, but I managed it really well today, so I’m happy.”

Sinner’s ability to strike cleanly from anywhere along the baseline was key to his victory against Tsitsipas. He powered 22 winners during his 58th win of the season, and he will look to strike as consistently on Tuesday to put Djokovic’s renowned defence to the test.

That not even be enough to clinch a maiden win against Djokovic, however. The 36-year-old Serbian showcased typical resilience at tough moments to outlast Rune, extend his tour-level winning streak to 19 matches and secure the ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone honour for a record-extending eighth time.

“I was very eager to win tonight’s match, get that monkey off my back,” said Djokovic after his win against the Dane. “I won Paris, which put me in a much better position rankings-wise, and I knew coming into Turin I only needed to win one match. A big goal is achieved, everything else now is a bonus.”

Djokovic, who can only confirm his semi-final spot with a win if Rune defeats Tsitsipas earlier on Tuesday, has never played Sinner indoors. Can he quell the Italian’s momentum inside the Pala Alpitour for his 48th Nitto ATP Finals match win?

Dodig/Krajicek Seek To Build On Fast Start

Top seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek consolidated first place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings with a straight-sets win in their opening match in Green Group. The Croatian-American duo looks to back that victory up on Tuesday evening when they meet fifth seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos.

In the afternoon doubles action, Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin take on Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni. Both pairs are chasing their maiden Nitto ATP Finals match win.

Feliciano Lopez was recognised for his standout career on Monday in Turin.

The Spaniard retired in June, then aged 41, after losing in the quarter-finals of the Mallorca Championships. The lefty won two matches at the ATP 250 to close out his career on a high.

ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi, ATP Player Representative Pablo Andujar and former World No. 5 Rainer Schuettler were among those who paid tribute to Lopez.

“I feel very proud of my career. I think I have achieved much more than I expected when I started playing professionally,” Lopez told ATPTour.com. “It’s been great being here again, seeing everyone and I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been working with me for the past 20 years helping me in every single way. And also, it’s been very nice that they give us a last goodbye with this presentation that I had a few hours ago with Andrea, with [ATP Senior Vice President of Player Relations] Fernando [Sanchez]. It’s been great.”

Lopez entertained fans around the world for more than two decades with his aggressive, net-crashing game. The lefty became known for his booming serve and fearless game. He won 766 tour-level matches between singles and doubles, 13 combined titles and more than $18 million in prize money.

The Spaniard is one of only five players who have hit 10,000 aces according to Infosys ATP Stats. Lopez is fourth on record with 10,261. He played in a record 79 consecutive Grand Slam men’s singles main draws beginning with 2002 Roland Garros.

In 2019, Lopez became tournament director of the Mutua Madrid Open, an ATP Masters 1000 event.

“I feel also very lucky that I will continue seeing almost everyone because I’m going to be working for Madrid,” Lopez said. “Hopefully we’re going to see each other again for the next years. Overall I’ve been very happy, and I think I met really nice people along the way, which is great. So it’s not goodbye, it’s see you later because I’m going to be seeing almost everyone the next five to 10 years. It’s been great so far, I’m very grateful for that.”

After losing third-set tie-breaks in each of his Nitto ATP Finals matches last season, Daniil Medvedev played two sets of the highest quality to bounce back with a 6-4, 6-2 victory against Andrey Rublev in his 2023 opener.

The close friends treated the Turin crowd to a breathtaking match full of lung-busting rallies, with Medvedev saving seven break points in the opening set — all in his last two service games of the set — before dominating from the start in set two.

“I felt good and I managed to put it on the court,” Medvedev said post-match. “First set was really tough. I managed to just get a little bit the upper hand on the most clutch moments, and this helped me in the second, so I’m really happy.”

The result extended Medvedev’s lead for most tour-level wins (65) and most hard-court wins (48) this season and provided the perfect start in his bid to equal Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz on six tour-level titles on the year. Three of those match wins have come against Rublev this season (also in Dubai and at the US Open), after Rublev beat Medvedev in Turin last season. Medvedev now holds a 7-2 advantage in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

In an eventful opening set that featured an endless supply of world-class baseline exchanges, Rublev fought off four early break points before dropping serve at 3-3 — a badly missed swinging volley on break point breaking the pattern of rock-solid tennis from both players for much of the set. Rublev raised his level from there to threaten on return, but Medvedev summoned big serves time and again, ultimately closing out the set in a marathon six-deuce game.

“I like to play aggressive on my serve or the first shot after the return. But Rublev plays such a style that he doesn’t give me any other option because I don’t have the power of Alcaraz or maybe Tsitsipas, like on my forehand,” Medvedev said of his patient tactics. “So it’s a little bit of a different style where I try to go left and right and move my opponent. He’s very good at this game. What happens is we’re both good at this game and as you could see in the first set, we have to run, run, run, run, run! So that’s not the case against everyone but against him, that’s the only chance I have.”

Outstanding from @DaniilMedwed 🔥🎾

Medvedev winning the Forehand #ShotQuality battle 9️⃣.4️⃣ to 9️⃣.2️⃣ 💪

While Rublev had the better of the Forehand Cross court exchanges the Medvedev forehand line was on 🔥 & the top #WinningPlay #TennisInsights | @atptour | #NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/GhTL4mqzfc

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) November 13, 2023

Set two was more straightforward, with Medvedev breaking in the opening game and not facing a break point in closing out the victory. The straight-sets result moves the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals champion to the top of the Red Group, with Alexander Zverev also at 1-0 following his afternoon win against Carlos Alcaraz.

Rublev, who has won a career-best 56 matches this season, will seek to bounce back on Wednesday against Alcaraz. Medvedev will meet Zverev on Wednesday with first place in the group on the line.

A changeover snack in Vienna four years ago has turned into a fan club and a friendship.

Jannik Sinner met with his fan club, The Carota Boys, who have become famous in the tennis world for showing up at tournaments in carrot costumes. The act stems from a changeover in Vienna four years ago when the Italian chowed down on a whole carrot.

“They are more famous than I am to be honest,” Sinner said at his pre-tournament press conference in Turin. “I got to know them a couple of days ago. It was a great meeting, obviously.”

Sinner also caught up with The Carota Boys on Sunday at the Pala Alpitour, where the 22-year-old won his first round-robin match of the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals against Stefanos Tsitsipas. 

“I don’t know them really, really well at the moment. I got the names, but I still got a little bit confused. It’s because they have this good-looking costume with the carota,” Sinner said. “But still it’s great to have this dedicated fan club to be honest. It’s growing, so I’m happy for them.”

Sinner will try to move to 2-0 in Green Group action on Tuesday when he plays World No. 1 Novak Djokovic. The home favourite can qualify for the semi-finals of the season finale by defeating Djokovic in straight sets, or if he triumphs in three and Stefanos Tsitsipas beats Holger Rune in the afternoon.

The Italian will hope to use the support of The Carota Boys and the Pala Alpitour crowd to continue his success at the prestigious tournament.

“The atmosphere was really, really nice,” Sinner said after defeating Tsitsipas. “It’s huge pleasure for me to play here in Turin, in Italy. Obviously a little bit more pressure, but I managed it really well today, so I’m happy.”