AFTER openly admitting he had “zero pleasure of being on the court” and could not wait for his year to end during a first-up loss to Taylor Fritz on Sunday, unpredictable Russian Daniil Medvedev easily knocked off Alex de Minaur in straight sets.

Medvedev was candid in his thoughts over the slower balls at the event in Turin in his straight sets defeat to Fritz where he served eight double faults and even turned his racquet around when receiving so the handle was facing the American. That mindset seemed to have disappeared against Aussie de Minaur with a 6-2 6-4 triumph overnight.

The win helped improve Medvedev’s head-to-head record against de Minaur to 7-3, with the 2020 ATP Finals champion needing an hour and 19 minutes to defeat the seventh seed. The reason for the turnaround? Blocking out the noise, including from his own head.

“I went into this match blocking the noise, even from myself,” Medvedev said post-match. “I really didn’t care what was happening on the court, I just tried to play, and it was a good feeling. Sometimes it’s good to block it [the noise], and I did that well today.

“After the last match, I was too tired mentally to fight the way I usually do. [So,] I went into the match [today] just trying to hit some shots, even thinking about next year. What is going to work well today and what’s not. It worked well, so I’m okay with it.”

In the result, Medvedev won 84 and 73 per cent of his first and second serve points, only dropping nine points on serve – one more than his double fault tally from game one – and not even facing a break point. By comparison, he created four against de Minaur, converting three of them to take the match rather comfortably.

Though de Minaur needs a Hail Mary to qualify, theoretically he could if he comfortably defeats Fritz in straight sets and Sinner defeats Medvedev in straight sets. Medvedev can only advance if he defeats world number one Jannik Sinner and de Minaur knocks off Fritz.

In the other match, Sinner kept his form rolling on with a 6-4 6-4 win over Fritz in an hour and 40 minutes to edge closer to booking his place in the Turin semi-finals. In a rematch of this year’s US Open final, the Italian said he knew it would be a challenge against the in-form American fifth seed.

“It was a very tough match, we got to know each other very well in a Grand Slam final,” Sinner said post-match. “We knew exactly what to expect today, he was very aggressive and I was prepared.

“I just tried to serve very well in the important moments, which I did. That was a very crucial game in the second set, I was down 0/30. If he breaks me there, the momentum could change.”