The Red Group plays their second of three round-robin matches on Wednesday.
Across the past eight seasons, Daniil Medvedev and Sascha Zverev have played 17 times, the most prolific ATP matchup during that span. On Wednesday, they’ll face off for the sixth time in 2023 alone, and for the fifth time at the ATP Finals, with the winner taking the group lead. And as we found out earlier this year, Sascha is not a huge fan of Daniil’s distracting on-court antics.
Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz and Andrey Rublev, both of whom lost their opening contests on Monday, will play to keep their advancement chances alive.
Each day, this preview will analyze the most intriguing matchup, while highlighting the other matches on the schedule. Wednesday’s play begins at 12:00pm local time.
Daniil Medvedev (3) vs. Sascha Zverev (7) – Not Before 9:00pm
Medvedev leads their head-to-head 10-7 overall, and 4-1 this season. Zverev’s only victory in 2023 came in a Cincinnati three-setter. After winning the first four matches of this rivalry, Sascha has now lost nine of their last 11 meetings. On hard courts, Daniil leads 8-7, and they’ve split four previous matches at this event. Shockingly, all 18 of their encounters have now come outside the Majors.
Two of their contests this year were tight three-setters that lasted over three hours. At Indian Wells, Medvedev prevailed despite injuring his ankle during the match, and despite spending much of the match complaining about how slowly the court was playing. A month later in Monte Carlo, Daniil came back from a set down to overcome Sascha on clay.
Zverev was none too happy with a mid-set toilet break Medvedev took in Monte Carlo, leading to a frosty hand shake at the net. And in press, Sascha referred to Daniil as “one of the most unfair players in the world,” and accused Medvedev of resorting to gamesmanship “every time” he falls behind Zverev. So there is plenty of bad blood between these two top players.
Sascha played some of his best tennis of the year in defeating Alcaraz on Monday, winning 79% of first serve points, and saving 83% of break points faced. On the same day, Medvedev played so cleanly against Rublev, winning 83% of first serve points, and he did not commit an unforced error until the end of the first set. And while Daniil won’t be quite as comfortable against Sascha as he was against his close friend Andrey, their recent history should provide Medvedev with enough confidence to beat an in-form Zverev.
Other Notable Matches on Wednesday:
Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski (2) vs. Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury (6) – Both teams won in straights sets on Monday. A year ago in the semifinals of this tournament, Ram and Salisbury defeated Koolhof and Skupski in straights sets, just as they did in the championship match of the 2022 US Open.
Carlos Alcaraz (2) vs. Andrey Rublev (5) – Surprisingly, this is their first career meeting. Alcaraz lost his first career match at the ATP Finals on Monday to Zverev in three sets, while Rublev went down in straights to Medvedev.
Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden (3) vs. Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler (8) – Both teams are looking for their first win of round-robin competition. This year in Rome, Kubler teamed with another Australian, Alex de Minaur, to beat Bopanna and Ebden in an extended third-set tiebreak.
Wednesday’s full Order of Play is here.
