Nitto ATP Finals Schedule and Draw Day 5: One match to rule them all
By Lee Vowell
Daniil Medvedev needs some help. Jannik Sinner might too, but he has a brighter outlook. This is because on Thursday at the Nitto ATP Finals, the Russian has to win to have a chance to move into the semifinals, but he has to defeat Sinner to get there. Should Medvedev lose, he is probably done.
There is a chance he could lose and still make the semifinals, but he would need something to go terribly wrong for Taylor Fritz in his match against Alex de Minaur. Fritz and de Minaur actually start match play on day 4 of the ATP Finals. The Australian has yet to win and has not played particularly well, while Fritz has a victory over Medvedev. Fritz would have to be forced to retire from the match for Medvedev to keep playing.
The later match on Thursday features unbeaten Sinner against Medvedev. The Italian has a bigger game afoot. An undefeated champion at the event can take home $4,881,500. Sinner is only one of two players who has yet to lose. An undefeated champion would also earn 1,500 points, but Sinner is already guaranteed to finish the year as No. 1, so the points do not matter much to him.
What to watch for at the Nitto ATP Finals on Day 5
All four players playing on Thursday are in the same group. Sinner leads with two straight wins, while Medvedev and Fritz have both won one and lost one. De Minaur has not played particularly well, has lost both his matches, and only won 13 of his 37 games. He was struggling with health concerns near the end of the year and has yet to round back into peak form.
The final day of the ATP Finals round-robin stage will be held on Friday. Those matches will feature Andrey Rublev versus Casper Ruud and Carlos Alcaraz versus Alexander Zverev.
Nitto ATP Finals Day 5 details:
- Match time for Taylor Fritz versus Alex de Minaur: 8 am ET
- Match time for Daniil Medvedev versus Jannik Sinner: 2:30 pm ET
- How to watch: Tennis Channel