Medvedev serves up Ruud awakening to reach ATP final

Defending champion Daniil Medvedev stormed into the final of the season-ending ATP Finals tournament in Turin on Saturday after crushing Norway’s Casper Ruud 6-4 6-2.

Russian Medvedev will face either Novak Djokovic or Germany’s Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final.

Medvedev started strongly against Ruud, breaking early to take a 2-1 lead in the first set and dictating play from the back of the court as Ruud struggled to contend with his opponent’s deep groundstrokes.

The Russian won 85% of his first-serve points as he wrapped up the opener in 42 minutes.

The second set followed a similar pattern to the first, with Medvedev racing into a 4-2 lead before closing out the match in 80 minutes, sending down 17 winners and making just 14 unforced errors in the one-sided victory.

The match marked world number two Medvedev’s ninth win in a row at the ATP Finals and he improved his head-to-head record over Ruud to 3-0.