Daniil Medvedev got his ATP Finals group stage venture off to a poor start as he lost to Taylor Fritz in Turin.
Medvedev is excited for a new ATP Finals winner, with defending champion Novak Djokovic not taking part.
Djokovic withdrew from the ATP Finals due to injury, having also won the year-end tournament in 2022 for a record seventh time.
The Serbian’s absence is a massive boost to the likes of Medvedev, although the Russian will rue his poor start.
He lost 4-6, 3-6 to Taylor Fritz in Italy, with the world number four certainly set to be eager to bounce back next time out.
Daniil Medvedev admits what he’s been struggling with for three years
Unfortunately he meets Alex de Minaur next up in Turin, with Medvedev then finishing his group stage journey against Jannik Sinner.
And he had plenty to say after his opening loss, with the Russian having been asked in his press conference if he was surprised how Fritz was able to stay in the long rallies and indeed win a lot of those long rallies.
“Not at all,” replied Medvedev. “The balls make that everyone can do it now. So not at all surprised. I have this every day, day in, day out, since like two, three years.
“Every practice is a struggle. Every match is a struggle. I was holding for long time. Now I feel zero pleasure of being on the court. So no surprise at all about the match today.”
Taylor Fritz blitzes past Daniil Medvedev at the ATP Finals
Medvedev was not among the in-form players ahead of the ATP Finals, where the top eight players in the world are currently fighting for year-end glory.
The Russian’s results have steadily declined since his China Open semi-finals exit, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz.
| Ilie Nastase Group | John Newcombe Group |
| Jannik Sinner (1) | Alexander Zverev (2) |
| Daniil Medvedev (4) | Carlos Alcaraz (3) |
| Taylor Fritz (5) | Casper Ruud (6) |
| Alex de Minaur (7) | Andrey Rublev (8) |
Medvedev then fell to Sinner in the Shanghai Masters quarter-finals, before suffering a round of 32 Paris Masters defeat to Alexei Popyrin.
He did, of course, come up against hugely talented opposition, but he will be well aware that he needs to beat the best to be the best, with that particularly ringing true in Turin.
The other ATP Finals group pits together Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev.
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