ATP Finals 2021, Turin, Italy: An inch closer to win back to back ATP Finals trophy. Daniil Medvedev crushes Casper Rudd 6-4, 6-2 to extend his winning streak to 9 at ATP Finals.
Overcoming with a perfect 3-0 score in the round-robin, the Russian was hard for the Norwegian to stop with his flat and deep groundstrokes. The match was relatively small as compared to other semifinals between Zverev and Djokovic, which ran for 2 hours and 28 minutes, with only 80 minutes of runtime.
“As soon as you are a set and a break up you feel like you are in control, but that is when the danger is,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview. “You need to stay focused and fight for every point. In the last game, I had 0/30 on my serve, and until the last point, it is never over. So I am happy I was able to finish it.
“I think all the matches were a great level. Different opponents and different styles. I managed to win all the matches. It was not an easy match [today]. When you are in the final you can’t complain, so I am just looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully, I can have my best match.”
The 25-year-old, who downed Dominic Thiem to lift The Brad Drewett Trophy in London in 2020, will face Alexander Zverev in the championship match. Recent major title success in the US Open 2021, Medvedev will be ready to defend his crown.
He is leading 6-5 against the German, having won their past five meetings, including a three-set win at the Pala Alpitour this week.
At this moment we are the Top 3 in the rankings,” Medvedev added. “Just three of us left here, so I am looking forward to a great match tomorrow no matter who I play. I had a few tough matches against Novak lately and a few tough matches against Sascha and one here this week, so it is going to be interesting.”
The serving made all the difference with the Russian winning 85% of points behind his first serves. He only needed 42 minutes to close the opening set in his favor. The match was moving quickly which gave Rudd no time to adapt or change tactics.
The Norweigan was asking questions in variety from slice to drop shots, but Medvedev was up to the task almost every time. Moving with a lead of 4-2, the Russian raced away with a victory slamming 17 winners and giving 14 unforced errors.
It was a breakthrough season for Casper Rudd. Earning 55 tour-level wins, holding a 25-10 record on hard courts. Before this year, Ruud was 16-27 in tour-level matches on hard courts. The 22-year-old clinched five tour-level titles in 2021 and became the first Norwegian to crack the Top 10 in the FedEx ATP Rankings in September.
Casper Rudd: “It has been a great year for me and my development as a tennis player,” Rudd said. “Getting to know my opponents more and playing this tournament has been a great experience. To finish a very good year off here in Turin has been a great experience for me and something I will be eager to try and repeat and be back here next year.”
“I got the perfect feedback on what I have to work on in my game to compete with the top guys in the world for next year,” Rudd said. “I played the World No. 1 and No. 2 this week and they beat me fairly comfortably, so that makes me want to seek revenge and become a better player next year.
“When next year starts, I will have it in the back of my mind. Every week and every match matters. It was only a couple of matches that made the difference of qualifying for the tournament. I am proud of the year and am looking forward to next year. If I can keep playing well, I can have another year like this year.”
“It is easy to doubt yourself in the toughest moments, but this year has been great for me when it has come down to this as I have played aggressively and well on the biggest points.”
