Fritz beats Medvedev in a million dollar match in Saudi Arabia

Taylor Fritz became the 2022 Diriyah Tennis Cup champion after he bested Daniil Medvedev in the final of the exhibition tournament.

Taking place during the off-season, the Diriyah Tennis Cup attracted ATP players mostly because of the high prize money on offer at the event, as the winner was promised $1 million.

There were four seeded players, who made it directly to the quarter-finals of the tournament, while eight more players played in the round of 16, which was played in the best-of-three match tie-break sets format.

Both finalists ended up being the seeded players, as the fourth-seeded Taylor Fritz first bested Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(3), 7-5, before eliminating Cameron Norrie 7-6(4), 4-6, 10-6.

The second-seeded Daniil Medvedev, on the other hand, didn't lose a set on his way to the final. He first bested Alexander Zverev 6-0, 6-4, and then the Russian also outplayed Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-4.

In the final, both kept serving well, even though the break point statistic showed a stark difference. In the first set, Fritz faced a total of six break points, while he didn't create any break chances himself.

Still, that didn't matter, as the set had to be decided in a tie-break, which the American player won 7-5, stealing the opening set from his opponent.

In the second set, Medvedev again had more break points than his opponent. The Russian had three chances to break, while he didn't allow any again, so a tie-break had to decide again.

Once again, Fritz was the better player, winning the tie-break 7-3 to win the match 7-6(5), 7-6(3), becoming the 2022 Diriyah Tennis Cup champion.

Fritz will receive $1 million in prize money for winning the event, but Medvedev also doesn't have to be very sad as he will receive $500,000 for making it to the final match.