Alexander Zverev looked like the better player, but Daniil Medvedev walked away with a big win at the ATP Finals

Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev have had a mini-season all on their own in 2023.

On Wednesday night in Turin, they met for the sixth time this year. The previous five ran the emotional gamut. In Indian Wells, Medvedev let loose with a memorable rant about the slow surface. In Monte Carlo, Zverev fired off his own angry words, this time about Medvedev’s gamesmanship. In Cincinnati, Zverev scored his first win over the Russian since 2021, and looked as happy as he ever has on a tennis court. As the season draws to a close, though, they’ve buried the hatchet between them, and each man can say that, all in all, he has had a satisfying year. The fact that they met in the ATP Finals was a tribute to that.

One dynamic runs through all of their matches, no matter the surface or the occasion: Medvedev asks the questions, and Zverev has to come up with the answers. Medvedev retreats far behind the baseline, and turns himself into an impenetrable ground-stroke wall that covers every inch of the court from sideline to sideline. To get through that wall, Zverev must force his way forward and create openings. His tour-mate Nick Kyrgios, who was guest commentating for Tennis Channel, urged Zverev to do just that, as early and often as possible. The problem is, it isn’t the German’s forte, or what he likes to do most.

This time, Zverev made a valiant effort of it, and if you only watched the points, without looking at the score, you might have thought he was winning. Zverev was the guy taking the risks with his down-the-line forehand, racing forward when he had Medvedev on the run, and trying to cut points short and finish them at net. He had twice as many aces as Medvedev (nine to four); came to net twice as many times (31 to 15); and hit more winners (26 to 18). In each set, it was Zverev who edged ahead first and looked destined to close it out. But both times he made a crucial, back-breaking mistake at exactly the wrong moment. (Unlike in his previous match, against Carlos Alcaraz.)

The first came in the opening-set tiebreaker. Zverev, playing aggressively and confidently, jumped out to a 4-1 lead. On the next point, he moved froward again, and seemed to have the point won with a backhand volley into the open court. Except the ball never made it into the open court; it landed in the net instead.

Still, Zverev managed to reach set point a few minutes later at 6-5. This time, he had a good look at a mid-court forehand—and again sent it into the net. Soon after, Medvedev reached set point, Zverev missed another backhand volley, and nearly smashed his racquet in anger. Zverev has improved his volleys over the years, but it’s not his comfort zone, and it showed in the clutch tonight.

In the second set, the two reached 4-4 without facing any break points. Finally, in the ninth game, Zverev earned one after Medvedev botched a drop shot. On the break point, Zverev had a chance to press the issue, but chose to stay back instead, and missed a routine backhand wide.

In the end, it was Medvedev who took his chances when he had them. With Zverev serving at 4-5, Medvedev guided a backhand pass straight down the line for a winner, and watched happily as a Zverev forehand sailed long on match point.

Zverev may have looked like the better player, but it was Medvedev who walked away with a 7-6 (7), 6-4 win. With that, he advances to the semifinals; Zverev will try to join him by beating Andrey Rublev on Friday. The way this season has gone, it would make sense if these two met one more time in the final on Sunday.