Melbourne, Feb 7  : A relentless Russia crushed Italy 2-0 to win their maiden ATP Cup Sunday with Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev in ruthless, red-hot form leading into the Australian Open.

Russia were the only nation in the 12-team event to boast two top 10 players and they had swept past Japan, Argentina and Germany en route to the decider.

Italy were flattened by the same Russian juggernaut on Rod Laver Arena, with Rublev destroying Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-2 in just 61 minutes before Medvedev overpowered Matteo Berrettini 6-4, 6-2 in 79 minutes.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Russia captain Evgeny Donskoy.

“If the level is going to be the same, these guys are going to see each other in the (Australian Open) quarter-finals because I saw the draw.”

World number four Medvedev and eighth-ranked Rublev have been the two hottest players on tour since last year’s US Open.

They kick off their Australian Open campaigns on Tuesday and are scheduled to meet in the last eight.

Medvedev is now on a career-long win streak of 14 matches, including his third ATP Masters title in Paris and victory at the season-ending ATP Tour Finals, with 10 of those victories over top 10 opponents.

“It’s a really big achievement … it’s a big boost in confidence,” said Medvedev of his run of wins against top-ranked players.

“Even when you lose, you know that you’re capable of playing this level, and it helps you for the next time to stand up.”

Rublev has been equally impressive, winning five ATP titles in a breakthrough 2020, more than anyone else, as he raced up the rankings.

He ended his season by beating world number three Dominic Thiem at the ATP Finals and has started 2021 with four straight wins at the ATP Cup, dropping just one set, to make him a contender at the Australian Open.

His sizzling form extended to world number 17 Fognini, who went into the match with a 5-1 record against the Russian but was blown away.

– Machine-like Medvedev –

Rublev dominated with his forehand and lost just seven service points in the entire match.

“I was playing really well all week since the first match and I was just going on court thinking that I needed to fight for every ball,” said Rublev.

“I knew it didn’t matter the score, he always has a chance. He always knows how to come back, so I was trying to keep going no matter the score.”

Medvedev faced a tougher assignment against Berrettini, the world number 10 who has also been in prime early season form, winning all his matches before meeting the Russian, including against world number three Dominic Thiem.

The 24-year-olds had only met once before, in 2018, when Medvedev won, and he took an early break in the opening set to go 3-1 ahead, holding on to serve out the set.

It followed a similar pattern in the second set with the machine-like Medvedev raising his game to another level to grind down Berrett

“He’s playing really good. He’s confident, you can tell. He’s a really tough player to beat,” said Berrettini of Medvedev. “These days, you just have to say bravo to him and think about the next matches.”

Serbia beat Spain in the final of the inaugural and hugely popular tournament last year in Sydney — launched as a rival to the Davis Cup.

It has been slimmed down from 24 teams to 12 this year due to the coronavirus over five days at Melbourne Park with $7.5 million at stake, rather than the multi-city format employed in 2020.

Los Angeles, Feb 7  : Former world heavyweight boxing champion Leon Spinks, who took the crown from Muhammad Ali in 1978 before losing a rematch, died on Friday, according to his publicists. He was 67.

Spinks had been hospitalized in December at Las Vegas before losing a five-year battle with cancer with his wife, Brenda Spinks, at his side, according to a statement from The Firm PR to Las Vegas television station KVVU.

“His final fight was fought with the same skill, grace and grit that had carried him through so many lifetime challenges,” the statement said.

“Leon fought his battle with numerous illnesses resiliently, never losing his trademark smile. Showing true Spinks determination, he never threw in the towel.”

Spinks finished his career 26-17 with three draws and 14 knockouts, but struggled to try and recapture the fame that came early in his career in one of the most shocking upsets in boxing history.

With a trademark gap-toothed grin, Spinks fought his way to Olympic gold in 1976 as a US light heavyweight in Montreal and turned professional six months later at age 23.

After only eight professional fights, seven wins and a draw, Spinks was sent into the ring against iconic Ali on February 15, 1978 at the Las Vegas Hilton.

Spinks captured a 15-round split decision over a 36-year-old Ali, who lost world crowns in the ring for the only time in his career, falling to 55-3 as Spinks claimed the heavyweight title in the shortest time of any fighter in history, only 13 months after his pro debut.

It would be the greatest moment of his career.

Seven months later, in a rematch before 70,000 at the Superdome in New Orleans, a fit and formidable Ali won a unanimous 15-round decision in what would be the final victory of his legendary career, making Ali the first three-time champion in heavyweight history.

Spinks had been stripped of the World Boxing Council crown for taking the rematch with Ali rather than face mandatory challenger Ken Norton, so the second fight was only for the World Boxing Association title.

Spinks lost his next fight as well but earned another shot at the crown in 1981 against Larry Holmes only to be stopped in the third round.

It took nearly five years for Spinks to gain another chance at a world crown but he fought for the WBC crusierweight title in 1986, stopped in the sixth round by Dwight Muhammad Qawi.

That began a run where he managed only one win and one draw in 10 fights. He lost five of his final eight fights before retiring in 1995.

Spinks’s son, Cory, was an undisputed welterweight champion from 2003-2005 and had brief junior middleweight reigns in 2007 and 2009.

Spinks’s younger brother Michael was a 1976 Olympic middleweight champion who was the undisputed light heavyweight champion from 1983-1985 and a heavyweight champion from 1985-1986.