Daniil Medvedev played his usual unorthodox style right until the end of the deciding set tiebreak against Jannik Sinner.
The defending ATP Finals champion started his encounter with the 20-year-old Italian in dominant form to clinch the opening set 6-0.
But Sinner made it a battle, claiming the second 7-5 in a tiebreak and forcing another breaker to decide the match.
Down match point serving at 5-6, Medvedev put a 210 km/h (130 mph) first serve wide to be forced into a second serve.
He then bulleted a 201 km/h (125 mph) second serve right at Sinner which he returned into the net.
The Russian then claimed the match 10-8 in the breaker, surviving his courageous move to complete a clean sweep of group stage wins.
“I need to be honest,” he said in his on-court interview. “I probably wouldn’t do it if the match [were not dead]. But, I feel it’s fun. I still think it’s fun, to do it!
“Especially with [Sinner] it’s kind of [like with Novak Djokovic]. He is a really good returner on the second serve.
“So if you just push it in there is a big chance you lose. If you put in a big second serve and it’s in there’s a big chance you win.
“It’s all about probability also sometimes.”
Despite the amazing entertainment that the match provided over nearly two and a half hours, it was actually a dead rubber even before it began.
Regardless of the result, Medvedev would go through to the semi-finals top of the group and Sinner would be out of the tournament.
Next up, Medvedev will face either Casper Ruud or Andrey Rublev as the last semi-final spot is yet to be decided.
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