Medvedev Stays Alive

It appeared that fifth-seeded Jared Donaldson was ready to play spoiler on the final day of round-robin play at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals.

But Russian Daniil Medvedev, after overcoming a strong start by the American and his dominating forehand, kept alive his hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals, defeating Donaldson 3-4(3), 4-2, 4-3(1), 4-0.

“It was a very tough match. Jared had nothing to lose at all, played amazing the first couple of sets. I managed to halt this, it was very tough,” Medvedev said. “I’m happy with my win and I hope to be through to the semis.”

The Russian will now have to watch the evening match between fellow group members Borna Coric (2-0) and Karen Khachanov (1-1). Depending on the result and scoreline of that battle, Medvedev could advance to Friday’s semi-finals. His easiest path there would be for Coric to defeat Khachanov, regardless of the score.

If Khachanov wins, but needs five sets to do so, Medvedev will sneak in as the second semi-finalist from Group B. Since Medvedev took more than three sets to beat Donaldson, Coric has officially qualified for the semi-finals.

“It’s going to be tough. I’m going to watch the match and unfortunately today I think I will support Borna,” Medvedev joked, as he is good friends with Khachanov. “I’m a very calm person in life but when it’s something about winning or sports, I’m crazy… I’m sure I’m going to get crazy tonight in front of the TV.”

For a while, it looked like he might be out of luck, as Donaldson was impressive in the early going. The American dictated play consistently throughout the first set with his forehand, and seemed to be playing more freely compared to his first two matches this week. He saved the sole break point he faced in the first set before cruising in the ensuing tie-break.

However, Medvedev steadied the ship with a break in the third game of the second set. From there, he began to force more errors from Donaldson and was able to avoid being completely on the back foot.

The Russian had a blip in the third set, as Donaldson played a strong game to even affairs after falling behind an early break. But Medvedev stormed to a 5/0 lead in the tie-break and never looked back, putting himself in a position to possibly advance to the last four.