Daniil Medvedev bounced back from a fiery outburst in his previous match, silencing the critics with a commanding 6-2, 6-4 win over Alex de Minaur on Tuesday, keeping his ATP Finals hopes alive.
The Russian stayed calm under pressure, not facing a single break point and showing a marked improvement in sharpness compared to his straight-set loss to Taylor Fritz on Sunday, a match in which he lost his composure, smashing his racket twice.
As the match ended, Medvedev took a moment to close his eyes, pressing his fingers to his ears before inscribing “Block the noise” on a camera lens.
“I went into this match also blocking the noise, even from myself,” Medvedev said. “No tantrums and stuff. Just block the noise. And I really didn’t care what was happening on the court. I just tried to play, and it was a good feeling.”
Later, Fritz faces top-ranked Jannik Sinner in a rematch of the U.S. Open final.
The top two finishers from each round-robin group advance to the semifinals.
De Minaur, who is making his debut at the season-ending event for the year’s top eight players, has lost both of his opening matches and will likely be eliminated.
Medvedev won the Finals in 2020, the last edition held in London.
“The more popular you become, the more fans you get, the more haters you get, the more attention you get. And sometimes even the good noise can make you off balance,” Medvedev said.
“You know, you win everything and everyone thinks you’re a god. … Then you lose two matches, and everyone is like, ‘Finished, your career is finished.’ So sometimes it’s good just to block it,” Medvedev added.
On Thursday, Medvedev faces Sinner, and de Minaur plays Fritz in the final matches of the group.
In the other group on Monday, Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud beat Andrey Rublev and Carlos Alcaraz, respectively.