In the other singles duel, Medvedev will clash with Fritz
The start of the Nitto ATP Finals 2024, this Sunday at the Inalpi Arena in Turin, will be a dream for the Italian public. One of the four matches of the day will be played by Jannik Sinner, local favorite and No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings.
The Italian will debut against the debutant Álex de Miñaur in the afternoon session and looking to get ahead in the Ilie Nastase Group, an area to which the duel between Daniil Medvedev and the American Taylor Fritz in the day session also belongs. In the doubles category, for their part, Nikola Mektic and Wesley Koolhof will clash with the Australians Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson, before Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos play against Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten.
[1] Jannik Sinner (ITA) vs. [7] Alex de Miñaur (AUS)
Álex De Minaur hopes that Sunday will be a day of several firsts in Turin. In addition to competing for the first time in the Nitto ATP Finals, he will seek to add his first victory against Sinner, with whom he has a 0-7 record in the Lexus ATP HeadToHead between them.
“It’s not rocket science, but you have to be ready from the beginning. There is nothing more difficult than starting against Jannik,” De Minaur said after the draw. “From the beginning, I need to be ready, I need to compete. It’s going to be a great experience. A great challenge. But this is where I have wanted to be all these years.”
His place has been earned thanks to a brilliant year that has included his rise to No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings, as well as 47 victories and two titles. Now he will seek to add his second victory against a world No. 1, and first since he beat Novak Djokovic in the 2024 United Cup.
As much as he has won almost everything this year, Sinner also has many motivations for his duel on Sunday. It will be the first time he competes in front of his people this season, and he hopes to rise to the occasion, which will mark his eighth game in this event (5-2 record).
“A lot of things make this tournament special,” Sinner told ATP Media on Thursday. “First of all, being Italian and playing in Italy. I haven’t played in Italy this year, because I got lost [el ATP Masters 1000 de] Rome. “It was really difficult, but I am even more excited and happy to be here.”
At a better time he couldn’t have come to this reunion with his people. The 23-year-old right-hander has 65 victories this year, and seven titles, the most on the ATP Tour 2024. A victory on Sunday would see him add at least one victory in each of his participations in the tournament in which he was a finalist in 2023 .
[4] Daniil Medvedev vs. [5] Taylor Fritz (USA)
It would seem logical that two players who have only been together for a year and who have been, almost simultaneously, in the best positions in the PIF ATP Rankings, have faced each other many times in their careers. This is not the case of Medvedev and Fritz, rivals in the first singles duel on day 1 at the Nitto ATP Finals 2024.
“We’ve both been in the Top 10 for three years and we started being on the Tour at the same time and we’ve only faced each other once, which is crazy,” said Medvedev, who won at Cincinnati 2022, the only precedent between the two.
It will be a very different duel than the one from two years ago. The conditions in Turin are much faster. Of course, the same intention is expected from Medvedev to slow down the rhythms of the duel.
“It is very difficult to play with Daniil because he reduces the speed of the game a lot with the way he plays and hits the ball. He doesn’t play with much spin or height,” said Fritz, who will begin the tournament at No. 5 in the live rankings, displacing the absent Djokovic. “You constantly feel like you have to lift and generate rhythm. “He slows down the court a lot.”
The truth is that both have shown that they have been able to tame these conditions. Fritz, No. 6 in the world, was a semifinalist two years ago in his only participation in the tournament, while Medvedev, No. 4 in the rankings, was a finalist in 2021 and a semifinalist in 2023.
Doubles action
Second seeds Granollers and Zeballos look to take another step at the Nitto ATP Finals after losing in the championship match to Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in 2023. The Spanish-Argentine pair were seeded fifth last year , but reaches the 2024 final as the second seed after the ATP Masters 1000 titles in Rome and Montreal. On Sunday they will face seventh seeds Patten and Heliovaara, who won their first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon.
The opening doubles match will see third seeds Koolhof and Mektic take on Australian fifth seeds Purcell and Thompson. Koolhof/Mektic won five titles this season, including the ATP Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, Shanghai and Paris, while Purcell/Thompson count the US Open doubles crown among their four trophies this season. The Australians also finished runners-up at Wimbledon.
Source: https://www.nittoatpfinals.com/es/news/sinner-de-minaur-medvedev-fritz-turin-2024-day-1-preview
