Late on Monday evening, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev enter the fight for victory at the ATP Final Tournament. The Russians begin their journey with a head-to-head meeting, and initially their match was perceived by many as a battle for the second ticket to the playoffs.

But after a sensation in another match, where the group favorite unexpectedly lost to an outsider, the task for both of our tennis players became more difficult.

The confrontation between Zverev and Alcaraz confused all the cards.

Underrated Zverev

The ATP Final Tournament started on Sunday in Turin, where the eight best tennis players of the season are fighting for victory. Among the strongest, there was a place for two Russians at once – Daniil Medvedev and Andrei Rublev were in the Red Group along with the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz and the German representative Alexander Zverev. It is interesting that our tennis players will start the tournament by meeting each other.

Bookmakers, and many experts, were inclined to believe that it was in this match that the fate of the second ticket to the playoffs would be determined, and the first by default was given to Alcaraz. But he mixed up all the cards by starting on the Turin hard court in a way that was not expected from him. In the confrontation with Zverev, Carlos was considered the clear favorite – the probability of his victory, judging by the quotes, was estimated at 80%. In general, the German tennis player in this four was perceived as an outsider, whom not only the Spaniard, but also both Russians could deal with. But it seems that Sasha was underestimated in vain.

Already in the first set, it became clear that Alcaraz would not have an easy walk. Zverev started well and even led with a break, but the Spaniard switched the game to a tie-break, which he confidently won – 7:6 (7:3). In the second set, Carlos continued to make mistakes. Zverev led 3:0 with a break and this time he did not lose the advantage – 6:3. In the decisive third set, the Spaniard fought, but, unfortunately for him, Sasha grabbed the chance he had earned and brought the match to victory – 6:7 (3:7), 6:3, 6:4. The first big sensation at the ATP Final Tournament!

Alexander Zverev / Photo: © Valerio Pennicino / Freelancer / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Set up for victory

After Alcaraz’s unexpected misfire, bookmakers rushed to reconsider the alignments in the Red Group. Zverev’s chances of reaching the playoffs have increased sharply (1.21), and Medvedev (2.19) has become the main contender for first place. Alcaraz, on the other hand, has turned from the main favorite into an outsider – it is proposed to bet on his exit from the quartet with odds of 3.40. It is clear that all these situations will change after the match between Rublev and Medvedev. The loser’s chances of ultimate success will certainly be lower than those of the Spaniard.

For Medvedev and Rublev, the situation became much more complicated. Initially, it seemed that both were quite capable of dealing with Zverev, while the chances of success in the matches with Alcaraz looked much more modest. Therefore, the head-to-head confrontation between the Russians was actually seen as a dispute for second place. Now Carlos has a loss, which theoretically allows us to dream of two of our tennis players reaching the playoffs at once. But in practice, both will face an angry favorite who will give his all. In addition, Zverev probably will not want to dwell on one sensation.

It is difficult to seriously discuss any alignments after one match in the group, but it is useless to argue with the fact that Alcaraz mixed up all the cards with his failure. The only one who definitely did not suffer because of this is Zverev.