Serbian top seed Novak Djokovic saw off debutant Diego Schwartzman’s challenge with a comfortable win while Russian fourth seed Daniil Medvedev also won an ATP Finals match for the first time with victory over fifth seed Alexander Zverev in the evening session on Monday.
The 33-year-old Serb, in search of his first ATP Finals crown since 2015 was in cruise control as he eased to a 6-3 6-1 victory at the O2 Arena in London.
Medvedev, on the other hand, having lost all group games last season started strongly this term, sealing a 6-3 6-4 win to wrap up the game in straight sets.
This season’s event is being played without spectators as a result of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This has hindered the usually loud, colourful fanfare around the event in the past seasons, meaning that the London fans have been unable to bid a proper farewell to the event before it moves to Turin next season.
Regardless of the lack of fanfare though, Djokovic still managed to muster up a classy win in what proved to be a high-quality tennis game all round.
The seventeen-time Grand Slam winner might have had his nerves rattling as he lost serve in the third game of the first set, but he settled back quickly to break straight back and held on firmly to see off the game.
Djokovic continued to sustain his level, forcing his opponent into mistakes as he broke twice in the second set for a 4-1 lead, before heading for a straight-sets win lasting an hour and 18 minutes.
“The second set I started swinging through the ball more and with less hesitation,” Djokovic said. “I was very happy with the way I played.”
As for Medvedev, however, it was not as straightforward. His game with Zverev – whom he beat at the Paris Masters final last week – was more of a scrappy, keenly contested one, but he did enough to outlast the German on his way to winning his first group game in London.
“Confidence is key for sure, not only the final against him but winning a Masters always helps,” said 24-year-old Medvedev, who faces Djokovic on Wednesday.
“It was a little bit shaky at the start, but we had some unbelievable points and the intensity was one of the most I’ve had in my career.”
The first six games lasted in the excess of forty minutes and contained 58 points as Medvedev won the first set.
Zverev 23, broke in the first set but lost his own serve from 30-0 in the second after missing seven consecutive serves.
Medvedev won all but five points on serve in the second set, claiming 57% of second-serve points overall to Zverev’s 21%.
Zverev made two more double faults in game six and it proved pivotal in the eventual outcome of the match and as it opened up in the second set, Medvedev broke again to take a 4-3 lead.
He held to from there on and even delivered a spectacular underarm serve to win the point in the game when it was tied at 30-30
“All in all, it wasn’t a good match for me. I think since the restart of the season, it was one of the worst ones,” said Zverev, who reached the US Open final in September.
The double events witnessed wins for top seeds Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares, as well as fourth seeds Horacio Zeballos and Marcel Granollers.
On Tuesday, Rafael Nadal faces Dominic Them in Group London 2020 from 15:00 GMT+1.
Both players defeated Andrey Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas in their first matches on Sunday.
Also on Tuesday, Rublev and defending champion, Tsitsipas will slug it the evening session, trying to win for the first time in London this season.
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