Alexander Zverev had to leave the court for treatment on his back in the second set of his must-win ATP Cup match Saturday against Daniil Medvedev, who went on to win in three sets to secure Russia’s victory over Germany and a spot in the final.
No. 4-ranked Medvedev raised his play when Zverev started to struggle, but he got tight in the end, twice double-faulting on match point before finally serving out for a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 win in Melbourne.
Andrey Rublev had earlier beaten Jan-Lennard Struff 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
“Crazy match,” Medvedev said. “Happy to win even if many things I didn’t like. Most important thing is to win for the country and be in the final.”
Russia will meet Italy in the final after Fabio Fognini beat Pablo Carreno Busta 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 and Matteo Berrettini had a 6-3, 7-5 win over Roberto Bautista Agut to eliminate 2020 runner-up Spain.
No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal didn’t play for Spain during the week because of lower back soreness but did practice and is expected to be OK for the Australian Open.
Zverev helped Germany to a 2-1 win over defending champion Serbia in the quarterfinals, rebounding from a narrow loss to top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the singles with a victory in the deciding doubles.
In the semis, he was on top early, but after getting a medical timeout for treatment in the second set, he wasn’t moving or serving as quickly.
Medvedev broke his serve in the penultimate game, and Zverev shattered a racket in frustration.
“It helped me he started moving slower, serving slower in the second set,” Medvedev said. “I felt like in the beginning of the third, I could stay in front and get the match done easy. But in the heat of the match, he started feeling better. I had to stay in it as much as I could.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.