Key events
Which Medvedev will turn up today? The chilled exquisite stroke player of the match against Alex de Minaur or the mercurial racket-thrower who played Taylor Fritz? Either way, he will have to cope with the partisan crowd AND win in straight sets to qualify for the semi-finals.
There’s about half an hour till Sinner v Medvedev – the semi-final decider. Some great detail from Gigi Salmon who reports that Sinner is currently eating ice cream and playing cards, while Medvedev is eating pasta and watching football.
Max Purcell/Jordan Thompson beat Marcel Granollers/Horacio Zeballos 7-6, 6-3
After such an epic opening set, Purcell and Thompson hurry through the second, to become the first Australian duo through to the ATP finals semi-finals since 1999.
Tumaini Carayol is in Malaga, where he spoke to Emma Raducanu about her struggles with fitness.
And there was good news for Britain’s Henry Patten. He and doubles partner Harri Helivaara beat Wesley Koolhof & Nikola Mektic 4-6, 6-3, 12-10 to swing into the semis undefeated.
There’s currently a dramatic doubles match in play in Turin. After a 20- minute tie break, Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson won the first set against Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 16-14. The win means they are through to the semis (they only needed one set). Granollers and Zeballos are distraught.
And I should have said that last year’s losing finalist Sinner is already through to the knock-out stages, thanks to de Minaur winning the first set against Fritz.
Earlier today, America’s Taylor Fritz fought back after losing the first set to Australia’s Alex de Minaur, in the longest match of the week. Fritz pocketed the win: 7-5, 6-4, 6-3, and will make the semi-finals on Saturday unless Medvedev beats Sinner in straight sets. Yes, we’ve reached that logarithmic tables time of the tournament.
Preamble
Good evening! It’s day five of the ATP tour finals, the penultimate day of the round robin competition. Our match of the evening is Jannik Sinner against Daniil Medvedev, which is due to spring into squeaky-booted action around 7pm GMT.
Tickets for the finals have been selling like the hottest of hot cakes in Turin, with home boy Sinner, the Orange Fox, the most dazzlingly golden ticket of them all.
Sinner is still floating under a cloud of controversy after he tested positive for small amounts of clostebol in March. The International Tennis Integrity Agency independent panel verdict was that Sinner bore “no fault or negligence”, but WADA appealed the decision with CAS. To his fans though, he is an Italian tennis miracle – expect huge enthusiasm and orange wigs from the stadium.
