Russia's Andrey Rublev continues anti-war campaign after defeating Daniil Medvedev in 2022 ATP Finals

Andrey Rublev defeated compatriot Daniil Medvedev 6-7(7), 6-3, 7-6(7) to get his 2022 ATP Finals campaign off to a flier.

The Russian, who won four titles during the 2022 season, later received a standing ovation from the crowd for advocating a message of peace, as he has done in the past as well, in light of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

"Peace peace peace, all we need," Andrey Rublev wrote on a broadcast camera.

The World No. 7 had written "No War Please" on a television camera after his Dubai Championships title win at the beginning of the year and has consistently voiced his opposition to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Rublev, who was unable to compete at Wimbledon following a ban on Russian and Belarusan players, has always maintained that he was willing to use the platform to convey a message of peace had he been allowed to participate.

"We wanted to use the platform of the Championship to show that we don't fight here, that there's no war in tennis. It's most important now. But I kept getting the same answer. The Russian government is going to use our results for propaganda," Andrey Rublev said.

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"I was cramping a bit" - Andrey Rublev after hard-fought win against Daniil Medvedev

Andrey Rublev in action at the 2022 ATP Finals.

Following his loss to Andrey Rublev in the 2022 ATP Finals, Daniil Medvedev now leads his compatriot 4-2 in the head-to-head. Rublev lost to Medvedev four times in a row before registering his first victory at the ATP Masters in Cincinnati last year.

Memories of the quarterfinal loss against Medvedev at the 2020 US Open inspired the 25-year-old to raise his game despite cramping up during the crucial final tie-break, he revealed after the match. Much like in 2020, Rublev failed to capitalize on multiple set points in the first set, but history did not repeat itself this time around.

“I was thinking about the US Open, because when we played in the quarter-finals in 2020, I think I was 5/1 in a tie-break, also something like 6/2, but I was leading something similar in a tie-break. But when I lost that set, I couldn’t play anymore, and I was thinking it cannot happen the same [again], I have to change something. The final tie-break, the rallies that we had there were crazy," he said.

"The last rally, we had I don’t know, 30 shots. I was cramping a bit already, but I was thinking ‘One more, one more'. You have to keep playing. For sure he felt the same, so just keep playing if you have the chance, just go for it’. In the end I was able to win,” he added.

Rublev leads the Red Group for now, with Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitispas set to face each other on Monday.