Daniil Medvedev shrugged his shoulders after the transformed match point – he accepted the greatest success of his career almost indifferently. But then the Russian tennis professional smiled when he took the defeated Dominic Thiem in his arms.
Two weeks after winning the Masters in Paris, Medvedev also triumphed at the ATP Finals in London and, after a strong season’s final spurt, is surfing the wave of success into the winter break.
Thiem: “Daniil deserves it”
The fourth in the world rankings won the final on Sunday with a lot of morale against US Open Champion Thiem from Austria 4: 6, 7: 6 (7: 2), 6: 4.
“What a match. Perhaps one of the best wins of my career,” said Medvedev after lifting the mighty silver cup in the confetti rain. “Of course I’m disappointed, but Daniil really deserves it,” Thiem congratulated.
Medvedev beats the top 3
The 24-year-old Medvedev became the first player to beat numbers one to three in the world at the ATP Finals. In the preliminary round he defeated the world number one Novak Djokovic, in the semifinals he eliminated Rafael Nadal before Thiem had to congratulate third in the world in the final. On the ATP tour, this feat had only ever been achieved by three players, including Boris Becker in Stockholm in 1994.
Medvedev ended the season with ten wins in a row – before the ATP Finals, he had already defeated German number one Alexander Zverev in the final in Paris. The Hamburger, who had won the season finale of the eight best of the year in 2018, had already failed in the group stage in London.
Thiem manages the first break
Thiem’s first service game, which lasted ten minutes alone, immediately showed how fiercely fought the final should be. Both players were immediately at operating temperature and repeatedly involved in long rallies, with a double fault Medvedev Thiem gave the first break to 3: 2. The Austrian no longer gave up the advantage.
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In the second set, too, both players were mostly at eye level, but only showed high-class tennis at times. Medvedev got into trouble again and again on his own serve, but the Austrian negligently left good chances for the preliminary decision – and Medvedev punished him in the tiebreak.
Medvedev with a decisive break
In the decision sentence, Thiem suddenly stood with his back to the wall, at 1: 1 he fended off three breakballs. A little later, however, he could not free himself, Medvedev got stronger and stronger and grabbed the break to 3: 2. The Muscovite showed no more weakness and secured the winner’s check for around 1.3 million euros.
