Daniil Medvedev is facing Carlos Alcaraz in the final group stage match at the ATP Finals with his qualification for the semifinals already assured. For his Spanish opponent, however, the match has to be won in order for him to proceed to the knockout stages on his debit at the year-ending ATP event. Undoubtedly, Alcaraz will fight tooth and nail after a listless run of form in recent weeks and to his advantage, Medvedev may not necessarily put up the most ardent of fights in order to avoid facing Novak Djokovic in the semifinal.
Medvedev, should he lost to Alcaraz in straight sets, will finish group in second place, meaning he will face Jannik Sinner rather than the World No. 1. All of this is pure speculation however.
Daniil Medvedev may only be thinking of winning to keep his momentum going. Moreover, Sinner is arguably the best player on the planet right now. The Italian has just come off three brilliant wins, one against none other than Djokovic, the man who had not lost a single match since the Wimbledon final.
As things stand, Medvedev has lost the first set to Alcaraz 4-6 and was on the verge of going a break down in the second only for him to fight back and hold his serve to make it 2-1. At the time of writing, the score stands 3-4 with Alcaraz on serve.
Novak Djokovic or Jannik Sinner better for Daniil Medvedev?
While many have been looking at Novak Djokovic as the man to beat at the ATP Finals in Turin, it is Jannik Sinner who has been the star of the show until now. The World No. 4 beat Djokovic in what many are labeling as the match of the season and followed it up with another good win against Holger Rune. By beating the Dane, Sinner also ensured Djokovic qualified.
All this while many were speculating whether Sinner would tank his match against Rune to eliminate Djokovic. However it was evident for everyone to see that Sinner had no such thoughts on his mind, starting his match off in the most emphatic manner and obliterating Rune 6-2 in the opening set. While Rune went on to capture the second set, Sinner eventually continued his perfect record.
Sinner’s form makes for a valid argument that he is currently the man to beat over Djokovic. He has arguably been second best only to Djokovic since the US Open and has perhaps edged past the Serbian at the ATP Finals to become the best in the world. While it has only been three matches and he is playing in his own country and to top it off, it is an indoors event favoring him, Sinner has certainly proved he has what it takes to be the best.
An argument can be made that Medvedev would in fact prefer facing Djokovic over Sinner at the moment. But Djokovic will no doubt be hoping to face Sinner one more time in the final to exact his revenge and win a record seventh ATP Finals title.
