The second of three rounds within the round-robin stage begins on Tuesday.
Two months ago in the men’s singles championship match of the US Open, Jannik Sinner defeated Taylor Fritz at the biggest tournament in Fritz’s home country. On Tuesday, the American gets his rematch, at the biggest tournament in Sinner’s home country. The winner will take a commanding lead atop the Nastase Group.
Day 3’s other singles matchup sees Daniil Medvedev and Alex de Minaur battle for their first victory of this event.
Each day, this preview will analyze the most intriguing matchup, while highlighting the other matches on the schedule. Tuesday’s play begins at 11:30am local time.
Jannik Sinner (1) vs. Taylor Fritz (5) – Not Before 8:30pm
In the US Open final, Sinner comfortably overcame Fritz in straight sets to win his second Major of the season. Jannik has clearly been the best ATP player of the year, with a record of 66-6. But hard courts are where he truly excels, with a 2024 record of 46-3, and six 2024 titles (Australian Open, Rotterdam, Miami, Cincinnati, US Open, Shanghai).
Despite his loss in the US Open final, that tournament was a big breakthrough for Fritz, after previously going 0-4 in Major quarterfinals. Taylor’s victory over Medvedev on Sunday was his 50th of the season, and as per Tennis Abstract, his fourth top five win of 2024 (with five losses). This is the American’s second appearance at this event, after advancing to the semifinals two years ago.
Outside of the US Open this year, they’ve only played two other times, and both of those matches also occurred in the United States. Three years ago in Indian Wells, Fritz defeated Sinner, back when the Italian was only ranked 39th in the world. Last year in Indian Wells, Sinner claimed a three-set quarterfinal. On Tuesday, in the Italian’s home country, Jannik is a considerable favorite.
Other Notable Matches on Tuesday:
Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson (5) vs. Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten (7) – While these teams are the lower seeds in this group, each team won their first round-robin match on Sunday. This is a rematch of the excellent men’s doubles championship match at Wimbledon this year, when Heliovaara and Patten saved a match point to eventually prevail in a third-set tiebreak.
Daniil Medvedev (4) vs. Alex de Minaur (7) – Medvedev had a complete meltdown during his straight-set loss to Fritz on Sunday, receiving multiple code violations for some extremely immature behavior. Daniil is 6-3 against Alex, though this year at Roland Garros, de Minaur beat Medvedev in four sets.
Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos (2) vs. Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic (3) – This is a rematch from the Indian Wells final back in March, when Koolhof and Mektic won a tight two-setter. They also defeated Granollers and Mektic in the final of Auckland at the beginning of the year.
Tuesday’s full Order of Play is here.
