But he recovered well and Medvedev produced an excellent performance to defeat De Minaur on Tuesday afternoon.

Medvedev claimed a 6-2, 6-4 win against the Australian, but he did by playing a style not usually associated with him.

What left Jim Courier surprised by Daniil Medvedev’s victory against Alex de Minaur at the ATP Finals?

Daniil Medvedev is known for his solid baseline play and defensive skills, which frustrates his opponents.

But at times he can be passive and struggles when certain opponents play with more variety, such as Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

The World number four mentally checked out of his match with Fritz on Sunday. At one point he lost his cool as he repeatedly threw his racket in the air and even pretended to return serve with his racket facing the wrong way.

But against De Minaur he was completely focused on the task at hand, and adopted an aggressive style of play, and struck 25 winners and just 10 unforced errors.

During an appearance on the Tennis Channel Live podcast, Jim Courier was surprised by the approach, but it certainly paid off for Medvedev.

“What he did was play a carefree style of play. You don’t see him hitting 26 winners against anybody let alone someone who defends as well as Alex de Minaur,” he said.

“His game style was very loose and he was playing very freely. That was evident watching the match. I was just remarking to myself that I can’t believe this guy is being this aggressive but listening to him afterwards it all made sense.”

Daniil Medvedev keeps ATP Finals final four hopes alive

Medvedev played with the urgency against De Minaur that was sorely lacking in his match against Fritz.

The former US Open champion needed to defeat De Minaur to keep his chances of progressing to the last four of the ATP Finals alive.

Not only did he emerge victorious, but a straight sets win for the loss of just six games has put him back into contention to advance, while De Minaur’s chances of ATP Finals glory is now over.

“I went into this match blocking the noise, even from myself,” said Medvedev post match. “I really didn’t care what was happening on the court, I just tried to play, and it was a good feeling.

“Sometimes it’s good to block it [the noise], and I did that well today. After the last match, I was too tired mentally to fight the way I usually do.

“[So,] I went into the match [today] just trying to hit some shots, even thinking about next year. What is going to work well today and what’s not. It worked well, so I’m okay with it.”

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