Turin, Nov 21 (IANS): Continuing his brilliant form, defending champion Daniil Medvedev beat Norway's Casper Ruud 6-4 6-2 in the semi-final, to reach the final of 2021 ATP Finals, here on Saturday.
The Russian soared through the round-robin stage with a perfect 3-0 record and played with such confidence against Ruud as he overpowered the Norwegian with his flat and deep groundstrokes in a dominant performance to advance after 80 minutes in Turin.
"As soon as you are a set and a break up you feel like you are in control, but that is when the danger is. You need to stay focused and fight for every point. In the last game, I had 0/30 on my serve, and until the last point, it is never over. So I am happy I was able to finish it," said Medvedev said in his on-court interview.
"I think all the matches were a great level. Different opponents and different styles. I managed to win all the matches. It was not an easy match [today]. When you are in the final you can't complain, so I am just looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully I can have my best match," he added.
Medvedev now leads Ruud 3-0 in their Head2Head series, having also defeated the World No 8 on the grass in Mallorca in June en route to the title.
The Russian second seed made a quick start against Ruud by imposing his explosive game. In the fast conditions, the Russian was strong on serve in the first set, winning 85 percent (17/20) of points behind his first delivery as he sealed the opener after 42 minutes.
The World No. 2 continued to control proceedings in the second set as he coped with Ruud's variety to great effect, dealing with the'22-year-old's slice and drop shots to move 4-2 ahead. Medvedev then raced to the finish line, firing 17 winners and committing 14 unforced errors in the match to secure victory.
The 25-year-old will face Serbia's world number one Novak Djokovic or German third seed Alexander Zverev in Sunday's final.
"At this moment we are the Top 3 in the rankings. Just three of us left here, so I am looking forward to a great match tomorrow no matter who I play. I had a few tough matches against Novak lately and a few tough matches against Sascha and one here this week, so it is going to be interesting," said Medvedev.