US Open champion Daniil Medvedev has made amends for an unexpected tiebreak flop to lead Russia to a 2-1 victory over France in the ATP Cup.
World No.2 Medvedev's Australian Open preparations got off to a shaky start on Sunday after he suffered a shock 6-7 (7-5) 7-5 7-6 (7-2) loss to world No.35 Ugo Humbert in his singles encounter.
The match was an arm wrestle throughout but Medvedev came up short when it mattered most, with Humbert racing to a 6-1 lead in the third-set tiebreaker before sealing the win on his second match point.
"I had some opportunities in the first set and I just tried to stay relaxed and focused on what I had to do. It was a great match," Humbert said.
Medvedev, who led 3-0 in the second set and 3-1 in the third set, committed 44 unforced errors.
The result levelled the Group B tie at 1-1 after Russian Roman Safiullin beat Arthur Rinderknech 2-6 7-5 6-3.
Medvedev looked deflated after his singles defeat, but made amends by teaming with Satiullin to win the deciding doubles 6-4 6-4 to secure a 2-1 victory.
Medvedev snared his first grand slam title in September when he beat Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the US Open final.
It was sweet revenge for Medvedev after losing to the Serb in last year's Australian Open final.
If Djokovic is ruled out of the 2022 Australian Open due to Victoria's vaccine mandate, Medvedev will start as favourite.
The United States made a hot start to the ATP Cup by whitewashing Canada 3-0.
World No.24 John Isner got the ball rolling with a 6-1 6-3 demolition of world No.238 Brayden Schnur, before Taylor Fritz beat rising star Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-7 (8-6) 6-4 6-4 to secure the tie.
The US made it a clean sweep by winning the doubles 6-4 6-4.
"I surprised myself with how well I played out here," Isner said in his on-court interview.
"You always work hard in the off-season, but you never really know what could happen in that first match of the year."
Isner was originally meant to face Denis Shapovalov but the world No.14 pulled out due to fatigue.
