Daniil Medvedev holds off stunning Jannik Sinner comeback for round robin clean sweep
Jannik Sinner so nearly clinched the biggest win of his career from a seemingly hopeless position, but Daniil Medvedev was just too strong.
Going into his match against world number two Daniil Medvedev, the 20-year-old Italian already knew he could not advance to the semi-finals in Turin.
Alexander Zverev had already secured his spot in the last four by ousting Hubert Hurkacz earlier in the day. He joined Medvedev there in doing so.
That did not mean that Sinner was going to go quietly in his final chance to impress at the ATP Finals.
However, Medvedev had other ideas early on, playing a near-perfect opening set to smash Sinner 6-0 in 25 minutes.
What looked like a humiliation then turned into an exceptional match though, as Sinner ignited the crowd who carried him to the second set 7-6, 7-5 in the tiebreak.
Sinner claimed a break to go 3-2 up in the decider, but surrendered it back to Medvedev for 4-4.
Another tiebreak was required to settle the match, a third of the tournament for Medvedev.
Both men had match points before Medvedev eventually closed the match 6-0, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (10-8).
Incredibly, despite the excitement of the match, it was essentially a dead rubber.
Medvedev was guaranteed to come top of the Red Group regardless of the match result. He now does so with three wins from three matches.
If Sinner had won it would have been his seventh victory over a top 10 opponent.
Moreover, it would have been his first ever top five win, coming on his ninth attempt.
Heading into the semi-finals, Medvedev will play either Casper Ruud or Andrey Rublev as the final last four berth is yet to be filled.
In the other semi-final, Novak Djokovic will face Zverev for the fifth time this season.
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