Turin, Nov 14 (IANS): Making a successful start to his ATP Finals title defence, Russia's Daniil Medvedev on Sunday registered a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 victory against Poland's Hubert Hurkacz in the opening match here, moving to 1-0 lead in Red Group action.

The Russian, who earned his fourth ATP Masters 1000 title in Toronto and his maiden major at the US Open recently, showed his confidence by staying calm after losing the first set. He battled back behind impressive serving and steady baseline play to triumph after two hours and one minute.

The World No. 2 did not face a break point in the match and won 83 percent of his first-serve points. He hit 15 aces and in his service games rarely gave Hurkacz an opportunity to step into the court.

"I had zero break points to save, so in a way I was never under pressure. I had only two games on Hubert's serve where I had breakpoints. Super happy to make this work and [that I] managed to get both breaks," Medvedev said in his on-court interview.

The victory gave Medvedev an early advantage in the Red Group, which also features 2018 champion Alexander Zverev and local hope Matteo Berrettini of Italy.

Medvedev has won 23 of his past 26 matches, with 19 of his triumphs during that stretch coming in straight sets. After going 0-3 on his debut at the season finale two years ago, he has now claimed six consecutive victories at the ATP Finals.