Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev are two of the closest associates on the ATP Tour, a lot in order that Rublev is godfather to Medvedev’s daughter. However throughout their 9 Lexus ATP Head2Head conferences, they’ve additionally grow to be acquainted foes on the court docket.

Medvedev, who leads the sequence 7-2 following his straight-sets win on Monday on the Nitto ATP Finals, says he is ready to put their relationship to at least one facet in between the strains.

“To be sincere, on court docket, I do not know the way it’s for him — for me on court docket, does not exist, associates, enemies. I simply attempt to win the match. I do not take into consideration anything.

“However when the final level is completed, it is like I really feel sorry for him, he misplaced the match. Nevertheless it’s the identical for him. If he beats me, I imply, final 12 months was brutal when he beat me [in Turin]. So I felt for one or two days he was sort of shy to speak to me, taking care.

“It is the identical. You at all times strive to take a look at him and see if tomorrow we will speak like regular. I will say to him good luck, go for it the following matches, and he is most likely going to say the identical.”

So how lengthy does Medvedev want to chill off after a defeat? 

“Relies upon the particular person. Me, normally — relies upon the match — however on the whole I want most likely one hour, round this. Relies upon the match. Typically two. Typically half-hour. I sort of snort about it. For positive I might be dissatisfied, however I can speak to folks, snort about it.

“I believe Andrey wants somewhat bit extra time, however that is simply the best way he’s.”

Medvedev’s subsequent matchup might be in opposition to Alexander Zverev on Wednesday, when Rublev will meet Carlos Alcaraz. Medvedev and Zverev are each 1-0 after the German defeated Alcaraz in three units earlier on Monday.

Whereas the consequence was an upset by seeding, Medvedev was not stunned by the scoreline contemplating each gamers’ current kind.

“Should you would ask me two, three months in the past, for positive [I would be surprised],” he mentioned. “Tennis is a really, very difficult sport. At this second, for no matter cause, we really feel that Carlos performs just a bit bit slower. He does not have the identical confidence he had all through the entire 12 months. This could occur to everybody. This even occur to Novak when he was youthful. The query is, how briskly is he going to get better? Is it going to be this event or subsequent 12 months?

“When he misplaced the second set, they confirmed the pace of the strokes, groundstrokes. Sascha was like 10 kilometers [per hour] increased than Carlos. That is very stunning. On the whole after I noticed the match, at first we felt that Carlos will not be taking part in his greatest. Sascha additionally. So I am not stunned in any respect.

“Ultimately it turned out to be an awesome struggle and an awesome match. No surprises. Sascha can play nicely additionally, serve nicely. It is going to be fascinating to play him for the 18th time.”

If that quantity feels like an exaggeration, it isn’t. Medvedev leads his Lexus ATP Head2Head in opposition to Zverev 10-7, together with wins in 4 of their 5 conferences this season.