The second set of group matches at the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals conclude in Turin on Wednesday when we head back to the Red Group for another day of what should be high quality tennis in the Italian city.
It is a day where the likes of the former world number one Carlos Alcaraz will look to remain alive in the tournament while two past champions meet to see who will assume control of the group heading into the final set of games.
Day Session
Rohan Bopanna & Matthew Ebden vs Rinky Hijikata & Jason Kubler
The Wednesday action begins with the two losing doubles pairs from the Monday action as the Australian Open champions Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler go up against the only team not to win a Grand Slam in this group this year in Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden.
The Australian pair of Hijikata and Kubler might have won a Grand Slam this season but they have barely played much in the way of top level tennis together since then. Their opening match here was just the tenth time they had been in action together since winning the Australian Open and they lacked cohesion together as a result and really didn’t look up to the level of this tournament. They will need a huge improvement to see off Bopanna and Ebden, who gave as good as they had against Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram but ran into a good performance by the defending champions. This will be the first time these two pairs meet in competition so there might be an element of feeling each other out but I find it hard to go against the more comfortable pairing of Bopanna and Ebden but the odds dictate the strong chance of them winning and even the 8/11 that they win 2-0 doesn’t really interest me too much.
Carlos Alcaraz vs Andrey Rublev
The second match of the day session will see Carlos Alcaraz looking to remain in the tournament when he takes on the Russian player Andrey Rublev, whose fate is even more precarious given that he was a straight sets loser in the opening round of games.
Alcaraz was involved in a bit of a marathon battle with Alexander Zverev on Monday, one where he got into a winning position before allowing his opponent to come back and pip him at the post. That was a much stronger performance than the one Rublev displayed against his compatriot Daniil Medvedev where Rublev quickly beat himself up and was never coming out on top when that started to happen. Somewhat surprisingly given how long Alcaraz has been at the top of the game for, this will be the first time these two have met but with one of the best analytical coaches in the game in his corner you would imagine it won’t take long for Alcaraz to stick a lot of traffic into the Rublev backhand and he should get a lot of joy from there the longer the match wears on. I expect Alcaraz to win this but the odds are plenty cramped enough to avoid me getting involved.
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Night Session
Wesley Koolhof & Neal Skupski vs Rajeev Ram & Joe Salisbury
The second of the doubles matches on Wednesday sees the last two Grand Slam title winners battling it out as two Brits and their partners collide when Neal Skupski and Wesley Koolhof take on Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram.
Both teams won their opening match so whoever comes out on top here will have one foot in the semi-final if not actually secured of their spot in the last four which should make for a cracking contest. To be fair to Koolhof and Skupski, despite their impending split they looked cohesive and up for it in their first game, although what they beat in that match remains to be seen. There is no doubt that in Bopanna and Ebden, Ram and Salisbury had the tougher challenge and dealt with it equally as ruthlessly. This is one of those doubles matches which should be good to watch. If I had to I’d edge towards Ram and Salisbury by virtue of the fact that they have won all three of their completed meetings but they are the favourites in a tight race so I’ll enjoy this one without a bet.
Daniil Medvedev vs Alexander Zverev
The last match on the court on Wednesday is a repeat of the 2021 final of this tournament as the two winners from Monday meet when Daniil Medvedev goes up against the twice champion Alexander Zverev.
Zverev had a good win over Carlos Alcaraz on Monday in what turned into a real titanic tussle while Medvedev eased past an Andrey Rublev who couldn’t really have played any more into his hands if he had tried. Medvedev will need to improve here I think but if there is one thing we have learned about the Russian in his four or so years at the top it is that the challenge always brings out his better tennis. Zverev will hope to do just that but he might be wary of the fact that these two have played five times this year and Medvedev has come out on top in four of those matches to take his career advantage in this battle to 10-7. Three of those five matches went to a deciding set though and another had a tiebreak in it and with the court playing quick this week I’m expecting these two excellent servers to dominate on serve. I would be surprised if we don’t see one tiebreak here but with Zverev already playing a tiebreak against Alcaraz we might see more than one of them. Whether it goes to a deciding set or we get two tiebreaks or not I do think there is a strong chance that we see more than 22.5 games before the winner is determined.
Tips
Back D.Medvedev vs A.Zverev – Over 22.5 games for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with BetVictor
