Two former champions met in the last match of Wednesday session at the 2022 ATP Finals as they both attempted to keep their chances alive.
Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas lost in their opening match at the 2022 ATP Finals and therefore, they both needed a win in their meeting on Wednesday night. And that was exactly what fans in Turin wished for as world no. 3 and world no. 5 in the ATP Rankings produced a brilliant show.
The first set was quite straightforward. The Greek got an early break in the second game after using the only break point of the set. Both players then served well and so after 33 minutes, Tsitsipas went into the lead after winning the first set 6-3.
Perfection on serve continued also in the second set as they hit 11 aces together and created no break point opportunities. Therefore, a tie-break had to decide the second set.
For major part of it, the Russian had a mini break advantage as he was up 4-1. Then, Tsitsipas won four consecutive points and soon led 5-4. But then, there was no mini-break for 12 points as both players had three chances to finish the set.
After both failed to do so, Medvedev got the important mini-break and won the second set tie-break 13-11 to force a decider.
It was all going well for former no. 1 in the third set as he got a break and led 5-3. At 5-4, he was serving for the match, but didn't handle the pressure well and soon the match had to be decided in yet another tie-break.
This time, there was no drama and after a 24-point tie-break, fans in Turin saw one of the shortest possible tie-breaks. After 2 hours and 22 minutes, Tsitsipas won the match 6-3, 6-7(11), 7-6(1) to keep his chances of advancing to semifinals alive.
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