Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev will meet yet again, this time in the round-robin stage at the 2024 ATP Finals in Turin.
These two players have developed a great rivalry over the past couple of years. Now, they will meet again, and this time, it will be at the year-end championship in Turin.
Only the eight best players every season qualify for the ATP Finals, and it's not a surprise that the reigning World No. 1 and former World No. 1 both made it to the event.
There was a 50% chance that they would be drawn together after they avoided each other last year in the round-robin stage and this time the draw made it possible for them to meet.
Sinner is coming into this match on a winning streak. He won the Six Kings Slam exhibition in Riyadh, but before that, the Italian player also triumphed at the Shanghai Masters.
Medvedev, on the other hand, is coming in less than an optimal form to Turin. He lost in the Shanghai Masters quarter-finals to Sinner, he then lost to Sinner at the Six Kings Slam, and he also lost in his first match at the Paris Masters to Alexei Popyrin, meaning he comes into this meeting on a three-match losing streak.
Two of Medvedev's last three losses were against Sinner, even though only one counts into the official statistics, which show their H2H tied at 7-7. Including that one exhibition match, the Italian would be ahead.
It's a rivalry that most tennis fans know well, and the sudden shift in it has been incredible. Medvedev won the first six matches between the two, and it looked like he was an unsolvable riddle for his younger opponent.
But everything changed at the 2023 China Open in Beijing. Sinner won five matches in a row, and even though his Russian opponent stopped his dominance at this year's Wimbledon Championships, Sinner won two more matches after that (three, including the Six Kings Slam).
Now, they come into their 15th match tied at 7-7 in H2H, and Sinner might turn it in his favor for the first time. He will have the home crowd backing him as the tournament takes place in Italy.
| Jannik Sinner | Daniil Medvedev | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | H2H | 7 |
| 1 | Rank | 4 |
| 23 | Age | 28 |
| 65-6 | 2024 W/L | 45-19 |
| 255-80 | Career W/L | 378-155 |
Medvedev is a player who can play extremely well on the indoor hard courts, which is only highlighted by the fact that he won the ATP Finals in 2020 when the tournament was last held in London.
In Turin, he already enjoyed some relative success. In 2021, he reached the final, beating Sinner in the round-robin stage after the Italian jumped in as an alternate for Matteo Berrettini.
In 2023, he played in the semi-final but lost to Sinner. This year, Medvedev likely isn't one of the top three favorites, and that's also one of the reasons why he will lose this match against Sinner. The Italian player has been just too dominant against him in the past 12 months.
Prediction: Jannik Sinner to win in two sets.