Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev are two of the closest friends on the ATP Tour, so much so that Rublev is godfather to Medvedev’s daughter. But across their nine Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings, they have also become familiar foes on the court.
Medvedev, who leads the series 7-2 following his straight-sets win on Monday at the Nitto ATP Finals, says he is able to put their relationship to one side in between the lines.
“To be honest, on court, I don’t know how it is for him — for me on court, doesn’t exist, friends, enemies. I just try to win the match. I don’t think about anything else.
“But when the last point is finished, it’s like I feel sorry for him, he lost the match. But it’s the same for him. If he beats me, I mean, last year was brutal when he beat me [in Turin]. So I felt for one or two days he was kind of shy to talk to me, taking care.
“It’s the same. You always try to look at him and see if tomorrow we can talk like normal. I’m going to say to him good luck,…
