STARNBERG, February 7, 2021
A relentless Russia defeated Italy 2-0 to win their maiden ATP Cup title in Melbourne on Sunday with World No. 4 Daniil Medvedev and World No. 8 Andrey Rublev in ruthless, red-hot form leading into the Australian Open.
Russia, who had edged past Japan, Argentina and Germany en-route to the final by winning all singles matches they played, were again the dominant team on Rod Laver Arena. Rublev destroyed Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-2 in just 61 minutes followed by 6-2, 6-4 win from Medvedev over Matteo Berrettini in 79 minutes.
An @ATPCup crown will even get a smile out of 🇷🇺 @DaniilMedwed 😁#ATPCup | #RUSITA pic.twitter.com/ZJ9rxxmf3H
— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 7, 2021
“I want to thank my team. Andrey won all of his matches,” Medvedev said during the trophy ceremony. “Thank you for being with me here and lifting this trophy in a few moments.”
The 24-year-old Moscow native has won a personal-best 14 consecutive matches dating back to the start of last year’s Rolex Paris Masters, with 10 of those victories coming against Top 10 opponents.: “It’s a really big achievement because I also didn’t lose a match. Yeah, 10 matches against Top 10 opponents, didn’t lose a match in these 10 matches. It’s a big boost in confidence. Even when you lose, you know that you’re capable of playing this level, and it helps you for the next time to stand up.”
Russia’s team captain Evgeny Donskoy said: “It’s such an honour to be part of this team. Thanks for inviting me to be captain. It’s not tough to be captain of such a strong team, because they are very easy people. Thanks to you guys, you are playing amazing.”
