Medvedev gets past Thiem for ATP title
Daniil Medvedev did not travel an easy path to the biggest title of his career at the ATP Finals: He beat No. 3 Dominic Thiem for the championship after earlier getting past No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Rafael Nadal.
By switching tactics and coming back for a 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 victory over U.S. Open champion Thiem in Sunday’s final, No. 4 Medvedev became the first player to defeat each of the men ranked 1-3 in the season-ending championship — and only the fourth to do so at any tour event since 1990.
“Means a lot,” said Medvedev, a 24-year-old Russian. “Shows what I’m capable of when I’m playing good, when I’m feeling good mentally, physically. So I know what I’m capable of. Just need to produce it more and more.”
The win against Thiem in an indoor arena without spectators, who were barred because of the pandemic, followed those against Djokovic in the round-robin portion of the tournament and Nadal in Saturday’s semifinals
Medvedev went 5-0 in all, quite a turnaround from a year ago, when he was 0-3. The tournament ended its 12-edition stay in London and heads to Turin, Italy, next year.
Medvedev closed 2020 by going 10-0 in November, including seven wins against Top 10 players. He had zero victories over Top 10 opponents over the preceding 12 months.
He called this run “a great boost of confidence for all the Slams coming up and all the tournaments.”
Baylor’s Drew tests positive
Baylor coach Scott Drew said he has tested positive for COVID-19, three days before the No. 2 Bears are scheduled to open the season against No. 18 Arizona State
Drew said he has been asymptomatic. Associate head coach Jerome Tang will direct the team on an interim basis.
“While it will be difficult watching from a distance, I know the team is in great hands with Coach Tang and our entire staff,” Drew said in a statement.
Florida pauses men’s basketball activities: Florida has paused activities for at least a week because of positive COVID-19 tests.
The Gators will not play this week’s scheduled games against UMass Lowell and No. 4 Virginia in a tournament at the Mohegan Sun resort.
Auburn self-imposes postseason ban: Auburn won’t participate in postseason play this season as a self-imposed penalty stemming from a bribery scheme involving former assistant coach Chuck Person.
The university announced the self-imposed postseason ban over Person’s steering young athletes toward advisers and managers in exchange for money.
“This was a difficult decision but the right decision,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said in a statement. “I hate it for our current players. They lost the opportunity for the postseason last year because of COVID, and now they will miss the postseason again.”
Auburn fired Person after he was accused in a 2017 federal probe into corruption in college basketball. He later pleaded guilty to a bribery conspiracy charge.