Novak Djokovic overcame Danil Medvedev 6-1 5-7 6-4 at the Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney clinching Serbia a spot in the final of the inaugural ATP Cup Final. Djokovic secured Serbia’s fifth consecutive win at the ATP Cup. Earlier today Dusan Lajovic clinched his fourth singles win at the ATP Cup by beating Karen Khachanov 7-5 7-6 (7-1) after 1 hour and 48 minutes.
Djokovic ended a two-match losing streak against Medvedev, who had beaten the Serbian player in Monte-Carlo and Cincinnati in 2019. Djokovic now leads 4-2 over Medvedev in their six head-to-head matches.
Djokovic cruised past Medvedev 6-1 in the first set with two consecutive breaks in the fourth and sixth games in just over half an hour. Both players traded breaks at the start of the second set. Medvedev got another break in the fourth game after a forehand error from Djokovic. The Serbian player got the break back in the seventh game. He reached four deuces in the ninth game, but he was not able to create break points. Medvedev broke serve in the 12th game with a backhand winner down the line to seal the second set 7-5 after 75 minutes.
Medvedev did not convert game points at 2-2. Djokovic got the break with a volley winner to take a 3-2 lead. Djokovic saved two break point chances, as he was serving for the match at 5-4 before converting his second match point.
“Exciting, exhausting, joyful, dreadful all at once. At one point we both refused to miss from baseline, so it was a lot of rallies and it was very exhausting. It was a very physical battle, but also a mental battle”,said Djokovic.
In the first match Dusan Lajovic beat Karen Khachanov 7-5 7-6 (7-1) to give Serbia a 1-0 lead. Lajovic dropped just 15 points on serve and never faced a break point.
Both players held on their serve in the first 11 games. Khachanov did not convert on six game point chances at 5-6 before Lajovic converted the only break point with a backhand down the line winner to clinch the opening set 7-5 after 50 minutes.
Neither player was able to reach a deuce in the second set en route to a tie-break. Lajovic hit a forehand down the line and a service winner to cruise out to a 5-0 lead in the breaker. The Serbian player hit a cross-court forehand on match point to win the tie-break 7-1. Lajovic did not face a break point and won 78 % of his service points.
“I am just happy that I won in two sets, because a tie-break is always open, but I won my past two or three tie-breaks this week already, so it gave me a lot of confidence today”,said Lajovic.
Nikola Cacic and Viktor Troicki completed a 3-0 win by beating Teymuraz Gabashvili and Konstantin Kravchuk 6-4 7-6 (9-7) with three breaks of serve.
