LONDON, November 11, 2019
Stefanos Tsitsipas got off to a winning start on his Nitto ATP Finals debut on Monday afternoon in Group Andre Agassi round robin-robin play. The No. 6 seed from Greece secured his first win over Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the pair’s sixth tour meeting.
Tsitispas, who lifted two ATP Tour titles this season at the Open 13 in Marseille and the Estoril Open, won four points more than his opponent to prevail 7-6(5), 6-4 after one hour and 42 minutes.
✅ First win at the Nitto ATP Finals
✅ First #ATPTour win over Daniil MedvedevHUGE win for @StefTsitsipas 👏
Watch on @TennisTV | #NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/ivzLW5rjKX
— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 11, 2019
“It has been one of the toughest and most important victories of my career so far,” Tsitsipas said. “Everything worked pretty well. The last game was also one of the toughest so far. It is such a relief. There was so much love, so much support from the crowd. Greek flags everywhere. It felt like playing in Athens.”
The 21-year-old is the youngest player in the field and the first Greek to ever qualify in the 50-year-tournament history.
”I watched this event when it was first held in London. I used to watch it on TV and dream of potentially playing it. It’s such an important event and pure joy to play here,” Tsitsipas said. “It’s been a long way to come here, so I’m really grateful for the people who really believed in me. It means a lot.”
Medvedev seeking the momentum
Medvedev was seeking his 60th victory of his breakout season. The 23-year-old Russian won all five previous meetings with Tsitsipas, including his first straight-set victory over the Greek in the ATP Masters 1000 in Shanghai in October.
“I think just general energy was not the way I wanted. And talking about energy, I’m not talking only about physical. Mentally I was missing something,” Medvedev said. “I didn’t have good energy enough to get the win today. But honestly, the way I was practicing last few weeks, I really lost a little bit the level I was playing, so I should say it was positive today, and I’m quite happy with the way I played regarding my last performances mostly on practices.
“It’s something more mentally. I lost the momentum a little bit, but try my best to get it back. I should say I’m quite confident that at one moment I will get it back. The other question is is it going to be this tournament or the next one?”
Krawietz/Mies off to dream start
Earlier in the day, Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies, the only second all-German team to compete at the ATP Finals after Jürgen Faßbender and Hans-Jürgen Pohmann in 1975, won their opening match in Group Max Mirnyi against Jean-Julien Rojer from the Netherlands and Romania’s Horia Tecau.
The No. 3 seeds and reigning Roland Garros doubles champions secured a 7-6(3), 4-6, 10-6 victory over the season finale champions of 2015 after one hour and 43 minutes.
“There was one bad service game in the second set and the match went the distance. We tried to stay calm and positive in the final set, although our statistics in a match tie-break are not the best and it worked out in the end,” Krawietz was pleased afterwards.
“All four players served well today, so the return was key to success,” Mies added.
Kramies #NittoATPFinals debut. Here we go! pic.twitter.com/kYXMUtO0BG
— Florian Heer (@Florian_Heer) November 11, 2019
The German tandem enjoyed their debut at London’s 02-Arena, getting goosebumps when they entered the stadium: “It was a special moment. The atmosphere inside the arena was incredible. To play on this court is a dream come true and it was a very special feeling,” said Krawietz.
The German duo, nicknamed “KraMies”, are joined in their group by Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah as well as Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.
