ATP Cup: Daniil Medvedev loses to Ugo Humbert
World number 35 Ugo Humbert on Sunday recorded an upset in the ATP Cup by defeating Daniil Medvedev 6-7 (5), 7-5, 7-6. He recorded the biggest win of his career during France and Russia's group stage matches. It was Humbert's first win against a top-3 ranked player. Medvedev is leading the Russian team as they look to defend their ATP Cup title.
- Medvedev's shock defeat to Humbert meant France leveled the group team event 1-1.
- World number 167 Roman Safiullin won the first game for Russia by defeating Arthur Rinderknech 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.
- In the decider, Medvedev paired up with Safiullin in the doubles to overcome Fabrice Martin and Edouard Roger-Vasselin challenge (6-4, 6-4) in 76 minutes.
- Russia won the group event against France 2-1.
Humbert lost the first set in a tiebreaker 6-7 (5/7). He was trailing 0-3 in the second set but clawed his way up to win it 7-5. He won the decider 7-6 (7/2) to hand Medvedev his first defeat of the season. Medvedev smashed 14 aces, 13 more than his opponent. But he also had more double faults (7) than his rival (2).
Medvedev won four ATP titles in 2021 - US Open, ATP Masters 1000 Canada, Mallorca, and Marseille Open. He finished runner-up in four events - Davis Cup Finals, Nitto ATP Finals, ATP Masters 1000 Paris, and Australian Open. Overall, he has won 13 career titles and finished as runner-up on ten occasions. He is currently ranked number two in ATP Rankings, behind Novak Djokovic.
Italy's Jannik Sinner defeated Max Purcell 6-1, 6-3 to hand his country a 1-0 lead against Australia in Group B. The United States have won their Group event against Canada (3-0). John Isner defeated Brayden Schnur 6-1, 6-3. Taylor Fritz hammered Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 6-4. And, then Fritz and Isner won the doubles match against Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-4.
ATP Cup is a men's hard-court tennis tournament as part of the build-up to the Australian Open. Serbia won the inaugural edition in 2020. Russia won the 2021 edition. 24 countries played in the first edition of the tournament. This year only 16 nations are competing. They have been divided into four groups. The top team from each group will reach the semis.
