Hey there, fellow tennis enthusiasts I’m Mia Johnson-Carter, and I’m here to give you the scoop on what’s happening in the world of tennis. Today, we’ve got some exciting news that’s got everyone talking.
Taylor Fritz, the American tennis star, kept his cool in the face of an irate Daniil Medvedev to win the opening match of the ATP Finals in straight sets. Fritz recorded his 50th win of the year by beating Medvedev 6-4 6-3 at the season-ending tournament in Turin, Italy. This victory is especially notable given that Medvedev broke a racquet in response to his poor serving and threw another after a stroke of bad luck while break point down[1].
Medvedev’s behavior on court was quite dramatic. He hit seven double faults in a tight opening set, including two back-to-back to give fifth seed Fritz set point. Capping a calamitous service game, the Russian double-faulted again and reacted angrily by smashing his racquet against his seat and the ground. At the start of the second set, Medvedev earned his first break point but slammed his backhand return into the net. Further break points went unconverted for both players before Fritz capitalized on his third, with a mis-hit lob that landed on the line[1].
An irritated Medvedev then received a point penalty after he broke a courtside microphone by throwing his racquet. As his behavior unraveled, he was booed by the crowd for his antics, which included holding his racquet by its head as he waited to receive a serve. Despite all this, Fritz remained focused and served out the match to love, saying, “I felt at 5-3 he was going to reset and try as hard as he could to break me, I had to tell myself he’s not going to just be done with the match… It’s very easy sometimes when someone’s doing that to relax and think they’re just going to be done, and then you drop your level. I had to stay focused and play a good game, because he was going to fight. I served a great game”[1].
Fritz and Medvedev are joined in the Ilie Nastase Group by Italy’s world number one Jannik Sinner and Alex de Minaur of Australia, who will play in the second round-robin match of the day from 19:30 GMT. Britain’s Henry Patten is also in action from 17:00, as he and Finnish doubles partner Harri Heliovaara start their campaign against the second seeds, Marcel Granollers of Spain and Argentine Horacio Zeballos[1].
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