Daniil Medvedev becomes second Russian to win the ATP World Tour Finals

Daniil Medvedev (Dacoucou, Wikimedia Commons)

Daniil Medvedev of Moscow has become the second Russian to win the ATP Finals. On Sunday, Medvedev defeated Austria’s Dominic Thiem 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 at the O2 Arena in London, England. This prestigious tournament is at the end of each tennis season, with only the top eight players in the world eligible.

Medvedev had an undefeated record of five wins and zero losses throughout the tournament. In the Tokyo 1970 Group, he defeated Germany’s Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-4, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-3, and Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-3. In the semifinals, Medvedev beat Spain’s Rafael Nadal, 3-6, 7-6, 6-3, before facing Thiem in the final.

The first time a Russian won the ATP Finals was in 2009. That year four-time grand slam semifinalist Nikolay Davydenko of Volgograd beat Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro 6-3, 6-4 in the final in London.

Medvedev becomes the eighth player since 1986 to go undefeated in the tournament. Starting that year, the ATP Finals used a group format, with two groups of four players each. The top two players from each group advanced to the semifinals. So theoretically, you could lose in group play, and then win the tournament. The other seven players who have gone undefeated at the ATP Finals have been Ivan Lendl of Czechoslovakia (1986, 1987), Michael Stich of Germany (1993), Lleyton Hewitt of Australia (2001), Roger Federer of Switzerland (2003, 2004, 2006, 2010, and 2011), Djokovic (2012, 2013, 2014), Andy Murray of Great Britain (2016), and Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria (2017).

The ATP Finals have been held in London, England every year since 2009. Next year however, they will be in Turin, Italy. The Italian city is best known for hosting Juventus’s soccer team and the 2006 Olympic Winter Games.

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