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ATP Cup 2021: Russia Sweeps Italy in Tournament Final Behind Medvedev, Rublev
February 7, 2021
Team Russia took care of Team Italy with ease in Saturday's ATP Cup final as the duo of Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev each won their singles matches over Matteo Berrettini and Fabio Fognini, respectively.
Russia became the second country to win the ATP Cup after Serbia claimed the inaugural title. Medvedev and Rublev didn't drop a match all week. Here's how that played out Saturday.
ATP Cup Final Results
Daniil Medvedev def. Matteo Berrettini: 6-4, 6-2
Andrey Rublev def. Fabio Fognini: 6-1, 6-2
Doubles Match N/A
Full scoring breakdown via ATP
Rublev opened the final round with a route of Fognini that seemed to set the tone for the day.
While defeating Fognini 6-1, 6-2, Rublev recorded nine aces, winning 87 percent of his points on his first serve and outscoring Fognini 56-25 overall. It was a clinical performance from Rublev and put Russia ahead 1-0 before Medvedev, the ATP's No. 4-ranked singles player, even stepped onto the court.
At one point, Rublev won 12 straight points as well as three straight games.
Fognini could hardly keep up.
That put Medvedev in a position to clinch the ATP Cup with a singles victory over Berrettini.
The top-ranked Russian wouldn't be denied.
Though Medvedev struggled in the first set, he pulled off a 6-4, 6-2 straight-set sweep to deliver the title to Russia and make the doubles match irrelevant.
"I want to thank my team," Medvedev said during the trophy ceremony after his match. "Andrey won all of his matches. Thank you for being with me here and lifting this trophy in a few moments."
Medvedev edged Berrettini 67-47 on overall points won and put together a streak of 13 straight points during his match. He also had a success rate of 82 percent on his first serve and won three break points.
While the tournament field was cut from 24 nations to 12 because of COVID-19, it's hard to argue Russia isn't as well-deserving a champion as there is.
"It's such an honour to be part of this team, thanks for inviting me to be captain," Russia's Evgeny Donskoy said. "It's not tough to be captain of such a strong team, because they are very easy people. Thanks to you guys, you are playing amazing."