ATP Finals Nitto 2020 The Russian comes back a set and fight for the title with Thiem
Lhe London Masters Cup had the top four in the world rankings in the semifinals and none of the top two will be in the final tomorrow. Dominic Thiem broke Novak Djokovic’s resistance first and then he was imitated by Daniil Medvedev, Rafael Nadal’s executioner by 3-6, 7-6 (4) and 6-3. The Spaniard, aged 34 years and five months, resists the only great title that is missing from his palm.
Medvedev was a threat from the moment he walked out of the locker room. Its mere presence, at 1.98 meters, scares anyone. Nadal showed more nerves in the third game of the semi-final than in all his previous matches in London.
And is that the Russian is a player without holes on hard surface indoors. The opponent’s ball bounces him at the waist and, from there, is a precision machine. It is no coincidence that he appeared at the masters’ appointment as champion of the TMS de Pars-Bercy and that he was the only undefeated in the semifinals.
Rafa was forced to save three break balls when the score just reflected a tie at one. Daniil gives the feeling that he does not sweat and the Spaniard changed his tactics and got on the net because he was not comfortable delivering blows from the white line. Long exchanges fell on the Muscovite’s side.
On the bench of the champion of 20 majors his agent Carlos Costa joined for the occasion. His wife Mery, the coaches Carlos Moy and Francis Roig, and the physiotherapist, Rafael Maym, were there from day one.
The ease that Nadal had shown with the serve, with percentages of firsts during the tournament above 70 percent, they fell below 40. Despite this, the manacor withstood the attacks. The resource of cutting the ball on the opponent’s backhand worked for Rafa.
Thiem, a finalist after beating Djokovic, could see it from his hotel but preferred to experience it from the stands. The sensations are not the same. He had room to rest because the fight for the title is scheduled for Sunday at 7:00 p.m.
Medvedev, who had played a perfect match, turned over his serve blank in the eighth game. That cost him the initial set against a Nadal that went from less to more. The Russian began to feel the mental block that he always feels when he has the Spaniard on the other side of the net. He does not forget the 5-1 and victory balls that he let slip in the last edition of the Masters.
Nadal took advantage and took a breath. No one had beaten the Russian a set this week and he had. Daniil did not let go and reacted firmly, breaking the service of the world number two in the second game of the continuation. It was with a double fault. In a seen and unseen, he dominated 3-0. He had a 5-1 ball and the one who forgives pays it. Rafa had a serve to close the semifinal with a 6-4. I fit a blank break that no one expected. And that cost him the tables. He had barely connected eight winners. He was in tow of his adversary, who invented two balloons to frame sudden death.
The third set started with a limbo break point for Medvedev. He charged back in the seventh game and was good on the third try and Before a fatigued Spaniard and who no longer runs the right hand or the backhand. Medvedev was better and won.
Djokovic wanted to ensure in London that he could surpass Roger Federer’s record of weeks as number one in March (310) and did it without having to be in the final. And it is that Nadal’s defeat keeps him 2,180 points behind the Serbian and the Spaniard can only add 1,640 points in the next edition of the Australian Open.
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