Kicking off this year's ATP World Tour Finals in the Ilie Nastase Group, Daniil Medvedev and Taylor Fritz open the 2024 tournament in Turin on Sunday afternoon.
The Russian fourth seed is bidding to replicate his run to year-end glory in 2020, while his American foe is competing at the ATP Finals for just the second time in his burgeoning career.
Match preview
© Imago
For the first time since the 2001 edition, not a single member of the Big Three - Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic - will be present at this year's ATP Finals, as the latter cedes his seventh and most recent crown to one of eight world-beaters.
Medvedev is one of the few competitors who knows how to conquer the ATP Tour finals - overcoming each of the world's top-three ranked players during his run to glory in 2020, where he defeated Dominic Thiem in the final - so the hard-court aficionado is not to be discounted.
The former world number one failed to defend his title in 2021, though - losing to Alexander Zverev in the final - and his recent results have been more modest, a round-robin exit in 2022 before falling to the superiority of Jannik Sinner in the 2023 semis.
Medvedev's quest to win a first Grand Slam honour since the 2021 US Open also ended in disappointment this year - although he was one set away from Australian Open glory before Sinner's astounding comeback - and he suffered a shock loss to Alexei Popyrin in the second round of the Paris Masters.
Having been beaten by Sinner in the showpiece Down Under and losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the Indian Wells final, Medvedev has not won a single top-level title in 2024 - not since 2017 had he suffered that trophyless fate - but 18 of his 20 career crowns to date have come on his beloved hard courts.
© Imago
In contrast, USA poster boy Fritz arrives in Turin with two ATP Tour titles under his belt from the current season - conquering the Delray Beach Open and Eastbourne International - as well as being able to call himself a Grand Slam finalist for the first time in his career.
The 27-year-old's straight sets defeat to Sinner in the US Open final was particularly tough for him to take, though, and he has since endured a couple of failed Masters ventures, including a semi-final exit to Djokovic in Shanghai a couple of months ago.
The less said about Fritz's Paris Masters performance the better too, as he was eliminated by an in-form Jack Draper in the second round, and his ATP Finals experience is extremely modest compared to former champion Medvedev.
Indeed, the American's only outing at the year-end championships to date came in the 2022 edition, where he memorably beat Nadal en route to the semis before being bested by Djokovic, and he was an unused alternate for the 2023 event.
However, with a 49-21 record for the 2024 season, Fritz no doubt merits his place among the Turin elite this time around, but both he and Medvedev also have taxing battles with Sinner and Alex de Minaur to navigate if they are to advance to the knockouts.
Head To Head
Cincinnati Open (2022) - Quarter-final: Medvedev wins 7-6[1] 6-3
Somewhat surprisingly, Medvedev and Fritz have only ever clashed once before on the ATP Tour, a 2022 Cincinnati Open quarter-final that the Russian won in straight sets.
Medvedev produced a masterclass in serving that day - sending a staggering 18 aces flying past Fritz - and some quintessentially terrific defending from the former ATP Finals winner also saw him save each of the six break points that the American fashioned.
We say: Medvedev to win in three sets
It is only fitting for this year's ATP Finals to commence with a match that is almost impossible to call. Fritz has made his mark against top-10 players this year - winning seven such matches - but Medvedev can never be written off on the hard surface.
The American has come on leaps and bounds since losing in straight sets to Medvedev two seasons ago, but if the Russian can execute his booming serves and excellent defence to perfection, he may just shade this fascinating battle.
Ben Knapton
