Daniil Medvedev

Under the lights at Rod Laver Arena, the legendary Spaniard demonstrated his trademark big-match mentality, overcoming the Russian Medvedev 2-6, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in an epic five hours and 24 minutes final to win the trophy. With his dramatic victory, Nadal has claimed sole ownership of the record for the most Grand Slam men's titles, moving past Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic who are both on 20 major crowns.

The second seed demonstrated a mixture of quality and grit at Rod Laver Arena, overcoming Tsitsipas 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a high-quality match to set up a final showdown against Rafael Nadal. By reaching his fourth Grand Slam final, Medvedev has equalled Marat Safin's record for most major final appearances by a Russian man. "I hit some very important passing shots and his energy went down because of this and my energy went up," Medvedev said.

In the first match of the tie, Rublev cruised past Dominik Koepfer 6-4, 6-0 after 49 minutes to give the former champion's the perfect start. The World No 5, who has also beaten Roberto Quiroz and Elias Ymer this week, won 84 per cent (27/32) of his first-serve points and fired nine aces to triumph. Medvedev then sealed victory for the Russian Tennis Federation, overcoming Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 6-4 in 66 minutes. The 25-year-old committed just six unforced errors and saved the one breakpoint he faced.

Medvedev looked on course to defend his Nitto ATP Finals title on Sunday evening, having beaten the German 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-6(6) in the 'Red Group' play of the WTA Finals, but he was at a loss to explain why his service deserted him in the title clash. "It's tough to say, maybe some tiredness of the body, maybe mentally I wasn't 100 per cent," Medvedev told atptour.com. "Not that I didn't want to be, but definitely something was missing. I don't have the answer, but it made the difference.

The German defeated World No. 1, Novak Djokovic, in the semi-finals and backed that up against World No. 2 Medvedev, capitalising on his powerful game to secure victory in 75 minutes. With his victory, Zverev became just the fourth player in the tournament's history to earn semi-final and final wins over the top two players in the ATP Rankings. The World No. 3 fired seven aces, hit 22 winners, and did not face a breakpoint in his statement win over the Russian. It was Zverev's second ATP Finals title and he ended his standout 2021 season in style in Turin.

The German, who beat Djokovic in the 2018 season finale championship match in London, played bravely and hit with depth in the crucial moments against the Serbian, who was crowned the world No.1 for a record seventh year recently. Zverev saved a set point in the first set and closed the net effectively throughout to advance after two hours and 29 minutes in an thrilling match.

The Russian soared through the round-robin stage with a perfect 3-0 record and played with such confidence against Ruud as he overpowered the Norwegian with his flat and deep groundstrokes in a dominant performance to advance after 80 minutes in Turin. "As soon as you are a set and a break up you feel like you are in control, but that is when the danger is. You need to stay focused and fight for every point. In the last game, I had 0/30 on my serve, and until the last point, it is never over. So I am happy I was able to finish it," said Medvedev said in his on-court interview.

The US Open champion this year and the current world No. 2, who had defeated Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in his opening game, backed that up against Zverev as he slammed the ball with consistent depth and recovered from a slump in the second set to win after two hours and 35 minutes on Tuesday night.

The Russian, who earned his fourth ATP Masters 1000 title in Toronto and his maiden major at the US Open recently, showed his confidence by staying calm after losing the first set. He battled back behind impressive serving and steady baseline play to triumph after two hours and one minute.

Djokovic, who had rallied to defeat Poland's Hubert Hurkacz in the Paris Masters semifinals to clinch a record seventh year-end world No.1 finish on Saturday (November 6), avenged his US Open final loss to Medvedev for a record-breaking 37th ATP Masters 1000 crown in 2 hours and 15 minutes. It was the 14th time this season that Djokovic rallied to victory from a set down to capture his sixth Paris Masters title. It was also the first Paris Masters final to feature the top-two players on the ATP Rankings since 1990.