World number five Daniil Medvedev backed his attacking instincts and came from behind to beat Fabio Fognini, as Russia swept Italy on the opening day of the inaugural ATP Cup on Friday.
The US Open finalist overcame a sluggish start to prevail 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 in one hour and 47 minutes after world number 17 Karen Khachanov had cruised to a 7-5, 6-3 win over Stefano Travaglia.
"Not happy with some moments of my performance but happy to get the win for my country," Medvedev said.
"Fabio destroyed me in the first set. I knew I had to play much more aggressively in the second set and it worked very well."
"I didn't have much time to recover from my singles," Ruud said. "I was a little bit low (on energy) but I got the feet going and we played great. The players are super proud to beat the US."