The Russian national team continues to perform successfully at the ATP Cup tournament.
Andrei Rublev did not experience any particular problems in confrontation with an opponent from the Japanese team.
Two games were enough for him to take over the 57th racket Yoshihito Nishioka and confirm that he is rightfully one of the ten strongest tennis players on the planet.
The athletes spent 65 minutes on the court, and the Japanese managed to win only four games.
It is noteworthy that until now Rublev was inferior to Nishioka in statistics of personal meetings.
In January 2019, the tennis players crossed in the second round of the Sydney tournament, and then the Japanese was stronger in two sets.
One of the key factors was Andrey's problems with serving.
Let him hit the first ball well (53%), but made eight double faults.
In the reporting meeting, the Russian was again unstable on the serve.
If in the first game he showed mediocre numbers, then in the second he began to make one mistake after another (36% of hits on the first serve).
It is not surprising that this helped Nishioka to perk up a little and avoid a major defeat, which at some point seemed inevitable.
In the first set, the Japanese made a break, but could not build on the success.
The Russian took six games in a row and was unstoppable at the reception, winning 12 of 16 draws.
Moreover, Nishioku was not saved even by the first serve, in which he lost as many as nine points.
Towards the end of the set, he began to get noticeably nervous, and in one of the episodes he threw the racket onto the court in his hearts.
If not for Andrey's problems with serving, the second game could have turned out to be the same one-sided.
Rublev won all 12 points when he hit the first ball, but otherwise he acted not so confidently and allowed Nishioka to earn two break points.
Both were played, but managed to create a certain tension.
Andrei himself was much more careful about his chances.
Both times he had only one attempt to make a break and bring the matter to victory - 6: 1, 6: 3.
“Today I played a very good match again and am glad that I brought the team the first point.
I played with Nishioka once, and he destroyed me ... So at first I was nervous and prepared for a very difficult match.
I am very glad that I won two sets and demonstrated good tennis.
This is just the beginning of a very long season.
I need to endure and work hard.
Let's see what happens, ”Sports.ru quotes Rublev.
RUSSIA ROLLS ON
🇷🇺 #TeamRussia clinches victory over 🇯🇵 #TeamJapan and books their place in the @ATPCup semi-finals 👏 pic.twitter.com/XaNVlFoyti
- ATP Tour (@atptour) February 3, 2021
Unlike the previous pair of opponents, Medvedev and Nishikori had a longer history of confrontation.
The tennis players divided the court four times and took the upper hand once on hard and clay.
The last meeting on the faster surface took place in the final of the tournament in Brisbane.
Then the Japanese won three games and so far won the last trophy in his career.
Nevertheless, more than two years have passed since that meeting, during which Medvedev strengthened his status as one of the strongest tennis players in the world, and Nishikori most of the time struggled with injuries and illnesses.
First, he underwent surgery on his elbow, and then had problems with his shoulder, and to top it off, he caught the coronavirus, as a result of which he missed part of the previous season.
This cost the Japanese not only a place at the top of the ATP rankings, but also the loss of physical condition and tone.
In a number of episodes, Nishikori did not look very confident: he threw off the blows, went to the net unprepared and did not look quite ready.
Medvedev had a solid advantage and only once allowed himself to relax a little.
When the score was 2: 1, he gave the Japanese a reverse break and lost the next serve, but quickly regained control of the game.
The next four games were left for Daniel.
During the first set, one of the key indicators was the percentage of points won when the first ball was hit.
If for a Russian it was 82%, then for a Japanese it was only 41%.
In the second, Nishikori managed to noticeably improve in this aspect, which allowed him to impose a fight on the current winner of the Final Tournament.
Until the ninth game, the tennis players confidently kept their serve, but at a key moment Medvedev confirmed his high class and made a break.
Daniil won with a score of 6: 2, 6: 4 and led the Russian national team to the semifinals ahead of schedule.
“Victory is victory, after which it is difficult to complain - so I won't.
I'm very sorry for Kay, because he had to go through a strict quarantine, and after that it's difficult to play.
In the first set, he made a lot of mistakes.
I knew I needed to do my job.
And I did it.
I am very glad that I brought the team to the semifinals.
After quarantine, when we had only two hours for tennis, I tried to give my best in training.
Therefore, before the first match, everything hurt me.
And as a tournament progresses, if there are no protracted matches, you usually feel better and better.
Today my condition was much better, ”Medvedev admitted.
Then the participants of the doubles match entered the court.
Evgeny Donskoy and Aslan Karatsev took the first game, but failed to build on their success and lost in the second.
And in both cases, the outcome of the struggle was decided by one break.
And the Japanese were a little luckier at the tie-break.
Yoshihito Nishioka and Ben McLachlan realized one of three match points and soaked the score in the series - 4: 6, 6: 3, 12:10.
True, this did not prevent the Russian national team from taking first place in the group ahead of schedule and repeating last year's result. A year ago, she also reached the semifinals, however, then she had to hold three meetings within the quartet, as well as beat Argentina in the quarterfinals. Only Serbia was able to stop domestic tennis players. The teams' paths may cross again if Novak Djokovic and the company defeat Germany on Thursday morning.