2022 Nitto ATP finals result: Stefanos Tsitsipas edges past Daniil Medvedev in Red Group thriller

The Greek takes the breaker 7-1 and in doing so keeps his hopes of reaching the last four alive. Medvedev battled hard but fell apart at the key moment in a match full of top serving there and a huge helping of drama in the breakers.

Medvedev is imploding! It’s all gone wrong so quickly for the Russian. A dropshot fail has him gesturing at his box and it continues too long. Stef puts away a lovely volley and the moves 6-0 up at the change of ends when Med lashes a backhand wide.

Tsitsipas wins a challenge on a sizzling crosscourt winner but it’s as good as it gets as Daniil holds his nerve to force the breaker.

Stef rides the crest of the wave through a thumping hold and guarantees himself the minimum of a tie break…

Boom! Just when you thought it was over, Stef steps up on the return and makes it count. The Greek conjures up a bewitching backhand return to snare two BPs and then celebrates when Medvedev fires a tight attempt into the tramlines.

Stef looks a tad forlorn and at 30-30 Med is close to the finish line. The Greek doubles down though and has one last throw of the dice to bite back.

Medvedev will now serve for the match.

Daniil swats away Stef’s break back point with a steely gaze. He finds clutch serves from deuce and is one game from an unlikely victory.

We have a break! A stonking return comes from nowhere and earns Med two break points. Stef looks to stave off the first with a one-two punch but arrows his forehand up the line just wide.

An ace down the T seals a clean hold and moves the Russian level. A Championship tie-break would have been a better call right here and now.

The best part of the match has been the breaker.

Copy, paste, repeat. Insert ‘server name’ for efficient hold. On we go!

The crowd were thrilled by that tie break but they recognise the pattern again now. The server is firmly in the driving seat on this court.

Daniil threatens early in the game at 15-30 but he can’t make it count as Stef threads the eye of a needle to eek out a hold to 30.

Medvedev maintains the euphoria of that tie-break triumph with a super fast love hold.

It’s the old cliché of hitting the reset button and going again. Stef does a fine job, dominating on serve once more and securing the scoreboard advantage in the decider.

We are going the distance! Medvedev comes through an epic breaker by a 13-11 scoreline. He saves a third match point with a bold overhead form the baseline and then outlasts Stef to claim a mini break. A comprehensive smash gets the job done on a fourth set point and the crowd erupt. More tennis incoming!

On we go! It’s 9-9 and a change of ends. Stef has had two match points and Med has had two set points but it remains finely poised and anyone’s breaker to win.

It’s 6-6 and another change of ends. Tsitsipas hooks a backhand long on match point after hitting back from 4-1 down. Medvedev is blaming his coach!

Wave your arms in the air like you just don’t care. Medvedev calls for more love as majestic drop shot catches Stef off guard and helps him along to a 4-2 lead at the change of ends.

There’s a nearly moment for Medvedev as he unloads an awkward, low return that Stef can only volley wide. It’s a half chance at 15-30 but he then skews a horrible shot into the net and gives his coach a sarcastic thumbs up. Stef settles from there and takes us into the breaker we were all expecting 20 minutes ago.