Without a single defeat: how Medvedev and Rublev brought the Russian national team victory at the ATP Cup

On paper, the Italian team could be safely called one of the most difficult opponents in the tournament for the Russian national team.

Unlike Germany, it did not have a pronounced leader in its composition, but both of its representatives were in the top 20 of the ATP ranking.

This qualitatively distinguished the “squadra azzurra” both from the Bundestim and from the teams of Argentina and Japan.

Until now, nominally the second number Fabio Fognini won two victories, and only the first racket of the planet Novak Djokovic could stop him.

Fognini not only stood out qualitatively against the background of all the previous counterparts of Andrei Rublev, but also had a solid advantage in personal meetings.

Until now, tennis players have played with each other six times and in five cases the Italian turned out to be stronger.

Moreover, the last three defeats fell on the period from 2018 to 2019.

Fabio twice won the competition in Beijing, and also did not allow Andrey to successfully compete at the Masters in Monte Carlo.

However, this time everything happened exactly the opposite.

In the first two games, Rublev lost only two rallies and immediately secured a solid advantage for himself.

In total, in the first set, he had a break point on each serve of Fognini, two of which he realized, while he himself did not allow the Italian not to create any problems for himself.

Only once did he manage to take more than two rallies at the reception, and this despite the fact that the Russian hit the first ball only every second time.

Andrey was noticeably superior to Fabio in playing on the back line and was practically not mistaken (3:11).

If in the first set Fognini was content with only one won game, then in the second he managed to double the indicators.

It was not without the help of Rublev, who thwarted several not the most difficult blows.

But there was practically no chance of catching on at the reception.

Andrey became even more confident in serving (68%), added five more to four aces and won 12 of 13 rallies when he hit the first ball.

Fabio fought until the score was 2: 3, after which he unstuck and lost three games dry.

“I played very well all week from the first match.

Previously, he played with Fabio six times and lost several times very difficult matches, very painful.

I tried to keep playing my tennis, regardless of the score.

I went to the game thinking about fighting for every ball.

I'm happy with how it turned out.

I tried to work my best every day ... it's a long process.

In the end, this was my journey, - quotes the words of Rublev "Match TV".

The first match in the confrontation between the national teams of Russia and Italy lasted only 62 minutes.

Fans probably expected the second to be more competitive, but by and large this did not happen.

Yes, Berrettini surpassed the achievement of a compatriot and took twice as many games, but this hardly resembled serious resistance.

Matteo did not last even an hour and a half on the court, losing to Daniil Medvedev in two sets.

In fact, Berrettini only lasted for the first four games.

He confidently took the first serve, resisted the reception, after which he played one break after another for eight minutes.

In total, it took Medvedev four attempts to put the squeeze on his opponent and take the lead.

Matteo tried to restore parity and was twice in one accurate shot from the target, but at first he made a mistake when trying to strike from the forehand, and then failed to cope with Daniel's serve.

The Russian confidently completed what he had begun - 6: 4.

If in the first game the tennis players played almost on equal terms, then in the second the superiority of Medvedev was overwhelming.

This time he took two feeds of the opponent at once, and the first one was completely dry.

On his own, he lost only four points out of 20, and three of them - on the second ball.

In most draws, Berrettini was forced to exclusively fight back and break the pace due to cut punches and practically did not think about the attack.

As a result, the Russian won the set with a score of 6: 2, and he could have won with a larger one.

But Matteo showed character and played two breaks in the seventh game.

However, this did not spoil the mood of Daniel, who marked the triumph with the trademark movement of ex-Bayern striker Mario Gomez.

As the athlete later admitted, the German was his favorite football player.

Medvedev beat Berrettini and helped the Russian national team win the ATP Cup for the first time in history.

Among other things, he won the tenth victory in a row over an opponent from the top 10 rankings and came in 17th in the percentage of successful matches (45.7%) with the leaders of world tennis.

Among compatriots, Marat Safin has the best performance (49.5%), who won 49 out of 99 meetings.

Swede Bjorn Borg is in the lead - 112 out of 154 (72.7%).

“I want to thank my team.

Andrey won all of his matches.

Thank you for being here with me and raising this trophy with me.

This is really a great achievement because I haven't lost a single match either.

Yes, 10 matches against the top 10 opponents, and I have not lost any of them.

It adds a lot of confidence.

Even when you lose, you know that you are able to play at this level, and it will help next time, ”Medvedev said.

The organizers of the competition in Melbourne decided not to delay the final and canceled the pair confrontation devoid of tournament intrigue. The Russian national team became the second winner of the ATP Cup in history and accompanied the Serbian team. True, unlike Djokovic and the company, Medvedev and Rublev did not suffer a single defeat in singles, setting a championship record.