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Having lost their respective round-robin matches on Day 1 of the 2022 ATP Finals, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev were in a must-win situation on Wednesday. The duo produced one of the most thrilling encounters of the season as Tsitsipas beat Medvedev 6-3, 6-7(11), 7-6(1) to eliminate the Russian from the competition.
A comical moment was the need of the hour after such an intense match between two players who do not see eye-to-eye. The third-ranked Greek came half-prepared to write an Italian phrase on the camera lens after winning the match. However, he wasn't sure about the spelling and was therefore seen looking for an Italian to help him.
"How do you write 'Ragazzi'? Are you Italian?" Stefanos Tsitsipas asked a man.
"I'm English," the man replied.
The Greek star then went to a couple more people before getting an answer. Just as he was about to write on the camera lens, he once again confirmed the spelling.
"Double Z, right, double Z?" Stefanos Tsitsipas can be heard saying.
Tsitsipas finally wrote "Vai Ragazzi" which translates to "Let's Go Guys."
The two-hour and 21-minute match saw Tsitsipas break Medvedev once in the opening set to take the lead. Both players held their serve right through the second set, with the Russian saving three match points in the tie-break and forcing the decider. In the third set, Tsitsipas fought back from 3-5 down to once again force a tie-break, where he was able to close out the match comfortably.
While the former World No. 1 and 2020 ATP Finals champion became the second player after Rafael Nadal to bow out of the year-end championships, Tsitsipas found himself in a must-win situation once again. The 2019 ATP Finals winner will face Andrey Rublev for a spot in the semifinals on Friday.
"It was great to get back into the match, I felt reborn" - Stefanos Tsitsipas after beating Daniil Medvedev
Wednesday's match was the 11th tour-level meeting between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev. While the Greek won his fourth match head-to-head, the Russian has enjoyed seven wins so far.
In a post-match press conference, Tsitsipas stated that he was proud of the way he fought to get back into the match.
“It was very tiring out there. I’m so glad I overcame this and I was able to enjoy it with the crowd. It’s a great win and I’m extremely proud of the way I fought. It never seemed to kind of be ending for me. Even on the last game when he was serving, I still felt if I was able to put a few balls in, some opportunity might present itself, and it did. It was great to get back into the match, I felt reborn, and what a great way to end it,” Stefanos Tsitsipas said.
