De Minaur facing ATP Finals elimination after Medvedev loss

Alex de Minaur lost to Daniil Medvedev at the ATP Finals on Tuesday, taking him to the brink of elimination in Turin.

The Australian is now at the mercy of other results to make the semi-finals, with the 6-2, 6-4 loss dropping de Minaur to a 0-2 record in the Ilie Nastase Group.

Medvedev played some of his best tennis in months across the course of the one-hour, 18-minute match, notably serving much better than in his opening loss to Taylor Fritz.

The Russian won 84% of first-serve points and did not face a single break point, while he converted three of four opportunities on his opponent’s serve.

He also played clean tennis from the baseline, with 25 winners to just 10 unforced errors, and was efficient at the net, winning eight of 11 points.

Upon sealing his victory over de Minaur, Medvedev blocked his ears on court — a gesture he later explained.

“I think a lot of football players do it,” he said.

“If I understand it right, it’s more about social media.

“After my performance with Taylor and some of my comments, I tried to use it less.

“I went into this match blocking the noise, even from myself.

“No tantrums. Just block the noise.

“I really didn’t care what was happening on the court. I just tried to play.

“It was a good feeling.

“Usually, I celebrate when I win the tournaments, but today I didn’t care.”

After Medvedev’s opening match, he declared to the media that he felt “zero pleasure of being on the court”, was “tired to fight”, and complained about the balls being used.

His comments drew criticism online, but the 28-year-old later explained that it produced a helpful mindset shift ahead of Tuesday’s match.

“When it’s end of the season, when you get complete meltdown against Fritz the match before, you lose your mind, because I did lose my mind, sometimes it’s a solution,” he said.

“I went into the match (against de Minaur) really, really trying to not care if I lose or win, if I play good or not.

“It worked out well for me today.”

On Thursday, Medvedev will play world No.1 Jannik Sinner with a spot in the semi-finals on the line.

The 2021 US Open champion has lost seven of his last eight matches against Sinner, and tennis bookmakers have him at long odds of +340 to buck that trend.

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