TURIN, Italy — U.S. Open finalist Taylor Fritz benefitted from a questionable serving decision by Daniil Medvedev and frustrated his opponent so much that the Russian broke his racket and was docked a point in a 6-4, 6-3 victory for the American in the opening match of the ATP Finals on Sunday.
On the only break point of the first set for either player, Medvedev went for a bigger-than-usual second serve but his attempt landed in the net to hand Fritz the set.
The first set had been virtually dead even until that point and Medvedev immediately seemed to regret his decision - or his execution - as the Russian went over to his bench in a fit of rage.
Medvedev first slammed his racket against the bench, which resulted in a slight dent. Then he slammed the racket againt on the hard court at Inapli Arena and mangled the frame into a twisty mess - prompting him to toss it behind him.
Medvedev received a code violation from the chair umpire for his behavior.
Midway through the second set, Medvedev was docked a point after he was broken and lost his cool again.
PHOTOS: Fritz frustrates Medvedev and the Russian loses his temper at the ATP Finals
Medvedev then acted as if he was going to return serve with his racket facing the wrong way - he held it with the butt of the racket and the grip facing Fritz. That drew whistles from the crowd and Medvedev changed the racket position just before Fritz served.
Fritz increased his focus to close it out and served out the match at love - serve-and-volleying on his first match point.
“It’s very easy sometimes when someone’s doing that, you can relax and think that they’re just going to be done and then you kind of drop your level,” Fritz said. “So I just had to try to tell myself, ’Stay focused, play a really good 5-3 game because he was going to fight for that game. Luckily, I served a great game.”
Fritz was consistent throughout the match, winning multiple long rallies and even landing a topspin-lob winner on the line for the break that ended up deciding the second set.
Fritz led 21-15 in winners and had 14 unforced errors to Medvedev’s 22.
In September at the U.S. Open, Fritz became the first American man to reach a Grand Slam final in 15 years but he lost the championship match to top-ranked Jannik Sinner.
The Californian is appearing at the season-ending event for the year’s top eight players for the second time. Two years ago, Fritz beat Rafael Nadal in his opening match and lost to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.
Later, Sinner plays Alex de Minaur, who is making his debut at the finals, and Fritz will get a rematch with Sinner later in the week.
The other group starts play on Monday with Carlos Alcaraz facing Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev meeting Andrey Rublev.
The top two finishers from each round-robin group advance to the semifinals.
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