ATP Finals, Day 2 Preview: Daniil Medvedev vs. Andrey Rublev; Novak Djokovic vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas

WATCH: Tennis Channel Live previews the two singles round robin groups of the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals

Daniil Medvedev vs. Andrey Rublev

They say it’s hard to play a friend and fellow countryman. In the case of these two Russians, it only seems to be a problem for one of them. Medvedev is 4-1 against Rublev, a record that includes a straight-set win at the US Open in 2020, and another at the Australian Open in 2021.

Medvedev’s game is Exhibit A for why Rublev has failed to move from the Top 10 into the Top 5, and failed to make it past the quarterfinals at a major yet. At the business end of a set, when points are at a premium, Medvedev has more ways to win them. He has a more varied arsenal of speeds, spins, and angles than Rublev, who knows only two ways to hit a ground stroke: Hard and harder. Just as important, Medvedev also has a superior serve and, at 6-foot-6, more defensive range. That’s usually enough to get him across the finish line against Rublev.

Usually, but not always. Rublev got on the board with a three-set win last summer in Cincinnati. This fall, the two have experienced a similar set of highs and lows. Medvedev won a title in Vienna before losing his opening-round match in Bercy. Rublev also won a title, in Gijon, but went out early in his last two events. Those results would seem to indicate that their current form is roughly equivalent. Which means the 4-1 head-to-head edge for Medvedev looms large. Winner: Medvedev

Novak Djokovic vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas

These two have seen a lot of each other lately. This will be the third meeting between the Serb and the Greek since the US Open, and the fourth of 2022.

That’s good news for one player, and bad news for the other. Djokovic has won their last eight matches, dating all the way back to the Before Times; Tsitsipas’s last win came in Shanghai in pre-pandemic 2019.

All of that said, Djokovic probably isn’t relishing the fact that his Turin campaign will start with another scrap against Tsitsipas. They’ve had some tight and hard-fought battles in the past, none better than the one they staged just last week in the Bercy semifinals.

In one of the year’s most entertaining contests, Tsitsipas showed a lot of determination in coming back from a slow start, and pushing Djokovic to a third-set tiebreaker. Tsitsipas did what he could to cover up his most glaring disadvantage in this matchup, his backhand. Djokovic’s two-hander, which is much more solid than Tsitsipas’s one-hander, is probably the biggest reason he’s 9-2 against him lifetime. Make that 10-2, most likely, after Monday. Winner: Djokovic