ATP Cup day 3 roundup: Medvedev blunts Isner's serve as Russia roll on

Russia's Daniil Medvedev celebrates after winning his match against American John Isner (not pictured) during the ATP Cup group stage in Perth, Australia, January 5, 2020.

World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev of Russia blunted big-serving John Isner of U.S. in an almost flawless straight sets victory at the ATP Cup on Sunday.

The U.S. Open finalist hit 24 winners and made just two unforced errors in the 6-3, 6-1 rout in one hour to ensure Russia clinched the tie against the U.S. ahead of the doubles.

Unbeaten Russia are top of Group D, while winless U.S. are all but out of contention for the knockout stages in Sydney. World No. 19 Isner has struggled in Perth. He lost his opening match to young Norwegian Casper Ruud in three sets.

Medvedev overwhelmed Isner, who consistently misfired his booming serve, and broke the towering American four times.

"I was very scared of his serve, so I knew I had to just wait for my chances. I was really good on return," Medvedev said.

Medvedev even out-aced Isner, who for the last four years has been the ATP's year-end ace leader.

"If you asked me before the match, I didn't think it would be possible," he said. "I was really stable on my serve and there was only one service game where I was tight."

Earlier in the tie, world No. 17 Karen Khachanov of Russia weathered an early storm from Taylor Fritz of U.S. to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 in one hour and 51 minutes.

Fritz, 22, started with an array of blistering groundstrokes and gained a stranglehold when he broke in the fifth game of the second set.

Norway's Casper Ruud serves to Italy's Fabio Fognini (not pictured) during the ATP Cup group stage in Perth, Australia, January 5, 2020.

Emerging 21-year-old Ruud continued his giant-killing run with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over world No. 12 Fabio Fognini, before Italy recovered to down Norway in the earlier Group D tie.

Ruud levelled the tie in just 66 minutes and then backed up alongside Viktor Durasovic in the deciding doubles only to be thwarted by Fognini and Simone Bolelli, who prevailed 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).

Italy join surprise packets Norway with a 1-1 record after being swept by Russia in their opening tie on Friday.

Ruud, whose father Christian is Norway's captain, has led his team's surprising run, starting the season spectacularly after upsetting Fognini and Isner in his first wins over top-20 players.

"Coming out here and beating two top 20 players at the beginning of the year is great for my confidence," he said.

Stefano Travaglia notched his first win of the season in the earlier singles match after comfortably beating Durasovic 6-1, 6-1 in 56 minutes.

The 28-year-old is representing Italy for the first time after replacing world number eight Matteo Berrettini, who withdrew from the tournament with an abdominal injury.

Canada's Denis Shapovalov plays a backhand in his match against Australia's Alex de Minaur (not pictured) during the ATP Cup group stage in Brisbane, Australia, January 5, 2020.

The ATP Cup is the inaugural 24-nation event that is being played in Australia's Brisbane, Perth and Sydney starting on Friday.

ATP Cup day 3 results:

In Brisbane:

Canada 0-3 Australia

Germany 2-1 Greece

In Perth:

Italy 2-1 Norway

Russia 2-1 U.S.

Sydney:

Bulgaria 2-1 Moldova

Belgium 1-2 Great Britain

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Source(s): AFP