Daniil Medvedev avenged last year's ATP Finals loss as he overcame close friend Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-2 in Monday's group match at the men's tennis year-end tournament.

In the other match of the Red Group, Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz was defeated by Germany's Alexander Zverev 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4 in his Turin debut.

Carlos Alcaraz hits a return during the round robin match between Alexander Zverev of Germany and Carlos Alcaraz of Spain at ATP Finals tennis tournament in Turin, Italy, on Nov. 13, 2023. (Photo by Alberto Lingria/Xinhua)

Medvedev, who improved his head-to-head record against his Russian compatriot Rublev to 7-2, admitted that once on court, there are no friends or enemies. "To be honest, on court, I don't know how it is for him - for me on court, doesn't exist, friends, enemies. I just try to win the match. I don't think about anything else.

"But when the last point is finished, it's like I feel sorry for him. He lost the match. But it's the same for him. If he beats me, I mean, last year was brutal when he beat me [in Turin]. So I felt for one or two days he was kind of shy to talk to me," said the 2020 ATP Finals champion, referring to his three-set tiebreak loss to Rublev last year.

Two-time champion Zverev delivered a strong opening performance against world No. 2 Alcaraz in his sixth appearance at the event, having won the title in both his previous outings in Turin in 2021 and in London in 2018.

"My serve helped me a lot. Saving the break point in the first game of the second set helped me," Zverev said. "You don't want to go down a set and a break against the world No. 2, so I am happy."

Andrey Rublev hits a return during the round robin match between Daniil Medvedev of Russia and Andrey Rublev of Russia at ATP Finals tennis tournament in Turin, Italy, Nov. 13, 2023. (Photo by Alberto Lingria/Xinhua)

In the doubles event, Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski defeated the Australian pair Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler 6-3, 6-4. Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury secured a victory against Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden with the same scoreline.

In Tuesday's action, Stefanos Tsitsipas is set to face Holger Rune in the afternoon session before Novak Djokovic, who recently clinched his eighth year-end world No. 1, takes on Jannik Sinner in the second round of Green Group matches.

The ATP Finals represent the year-end climax to the men's professional tennis season, featuring the top eight singles players and doubles pairs.

Eight singles players are divided into two groups and play in a round-robin format. An undefeated champion can potentially earn 1,500 ranking points

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