This is the rare tournament in which a player is back out on court just a couple of days after a loss and the two defeated players from Day 1 will open Day 3 in a bid to keep their Singles dream alive.
Another defeat does not necessarily mean the end, but it is very difficult to come through a Group after losing twice and so there is considerable pressure on Daniil Medvedev and Alex De Minaur.
Both Jannik Sinner and Taylor Fritz have produced a win already in the Group and they will be looking to secure passage into the Semi Final without being in a pressurised situation in their final match.
Both matches look pretty good on paper, even at the end of a very long season for all competing in Turin.
Daniil Medvedev v Alex De Minaur: This is not quite an official elimination match, but the two losing players from Day 1 meet in the second round robin of Group matches knowing that another loss would make it very difficult to progress. Losing matches is one thing, but losing in straight sets has put both Daniil Medvedev and Alex De Minaur in a difficult position as they look to bounce back from the opening defeats.
Neither player will be feeling that good about their level of performance in the first matches played in Turin, but Alex De Minaur may feel he has lost to the player that is likely to dominate the Group.
On the other side, Daniil Medvedev's defeat to Taylor Fritz has left him in a more precarious position and there is little doubt that he has to show more desire than he did when falling into a losing position in the opening match. The antics on the court have gotten some fans a little agitated when they watch Medvedev play, but he is not someone afraid to show what he is thinking and the body language was not very good on Sunday.
It has been a tough year all around for Daniil Medvedev and you do have to question how much desire he has left, even if there is still a passage through to the World Tour Finals Knock Out Rounds. He was competitive against Fritz, but the mentality looked a little fragile and things spiralled away from Daniil Medvedev, which has to be a concern in this match up.
The head to head does read in favour of Daniil Medvedev, but he is facing an opponent in Alex De Minaur who is unlikely to give points away. The sole meeting between the players in 2024 was at the French Open and it was the Australian who came through in four sets to reach the Quarter Final, while Alex De Minaur is someone who would have the hard courts down as his favourite surface.
Alex De Minaur will know he needs to be a lot better than he was in the defeat to Jannik Sinner on Sunday, but he has shown some decent form on the indoor European hard courts in the build up to the World Tour Finals. He has won seven of the eleven matches played since the US Open, although the De Minaur numbers have dipped considerably behind serve and return.
This should mean Daniil Medvedev has the edge, although his own form has been inconsistent and the player has not looked completely happy being on the court. That does lessen enthusiasm for backing him to bounce back and you can see a situation where Daniil Medvedev barely goes through the motions if this match begins to get away from him.
However, unlike the first match, Alex De Minaur is going to offer up more chances on the return for Daniil Medvedev and that may just keep him interested. There should be plenty of Break Points for both considering the issue Medvedev may be dealing with at the moment, but the World Number 4 has the capabilities of bouncing back with his experience of the format perhaps a telling factor too.
Jannik Sinner-Taylor Fritz over 21.5 games: Both of these players opened their World Tour Finals with a victory, although the overall ambitions may still be a little different for Jannik Sinner and Taylor Fritz.
The World Number 1, Australian Open and US Open Champion, and home favourite Jannik Sinner has to be targeting the title having reached the Final twelve months ago before going down to Novak Djokovic. Winning the Shanghai Masters allowed Sinner to spend a bit of time away from the Tour and he looked fresh and motivated when beating Alex De Minaur with little fuss a couple of days ago.
His opponent also earned a straight sets win, but Taylor Fritz has made it clear that his main ambition is to outperform his World Ranking by reaching the Semi Final at this end of year tournament. Some may feel that is an underwhelming goal, but Fritz has to be given credit for his honesty and there may be a good opportunity to reach the Final with the way the other Group could potentially shape up.
Despite the opening win, Taylor Fritz knows he likely needs at least one more and even picking up a set in a losing effort would put him in a strong position to progress. Of course, the player nor his camp should be thinking about nothing more than their bid to earn the upset against an opponent who beat Taylor Fritz in the US Open Final back in September.
In the main it was a dominant win for Jannik Sinner with Taylor Fritz not serving as well as he would have wanted in that US Open Final. So much of the American's tennis is based around his serve and he will need to be a lot better in this Group match if he is going to give Sinner something different to think about.
The last two professional meetings between these players have both ended in wins for Jannik Sinner and both on the hard courts so you can understand why he is such a big favourite ahead of this match. However, Taylor Fritz may feel he can dictate rallies as long as he can his marks on the serve and he has shown that he can make enough returns to use scoreboard pressure to try and break through the Jannik Sinner wall in front of him.
The likelihood is that Jannik Sinner will win and move to the brink of making it through to the Semi Final, but Taylor Fritz can be more competitive than he was at Flushing Meadows. The indoor conditions should help and both players are capable of serving well enough to help this match surpass the total games line set.
MY PICKS: Daniil Medvedev to Win @ 1.80 Bet Fred (1 Unit)
Jannik Sinner-Taylor Fritz Over 21.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet365 (1 Unit)
World Tour Finals Update: 2-2, - 0.64 Units (4 Units Staked, - 16% Yield)
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