Rafael Nadal turned the disadvantage of two “break” games against world number 4 Daniil Medvedev to record one of the biggest upsets in his career.
In the closing tournament of the 8 best tennis players in the world, the world’s number 1, which was beaten badly by reigning champion Sascha Zverev on Monday, looked utterly hopeless as he was losing 5-1 in the final set, even in the seventh game the Russian tennis player led 30-40 and had a “match point” available, yet Rafa took full advantage of the euphoria, naivety and somehow the release of the 23-year-old Moscow player to ensure his first success. in this anniversary edition of the ATP World Tour Finals.
In the 50th tournament of the season’s top 8 tennis players, the 33-year-old Spanish striker was bound to definitely win the duel with the Russian tennis player, keeping alive hopes of both a possible qualification and defending throne. this sport from the attack of tennis player from Serbia, Novak Djokovic, who on Tuesday night suffered his 5th loss in the last 6 clashes with Austrian Dominic Thiem.
Medvedev, on the other hand, who suffered his first career defeat on Monday in 6 encounters with 21-year-old Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, was considered one of the most formidable tennis players because before he could beat Paris – Bercy by Frenchman Jeremy Chardy , the world’s No.4 had secured minimal qualification for the final in the last 6 tournaments in which he participated.
The Iberian tennis player started the game better, fueled by the positive balance in previous challenges between them, in both cases though it was a final. Thus, in Montreal, three months earlier, in the Canadian Masters final, Rafa left only three “games” in total to the Russian Heights, while in New York, in the final played at Flushing Meadows, Nadal needed five sets and a full five game hours to break 6-4 in the set set his opponent.
In the opener set there was only one chance for a break in the seventh game, but Medvedev did not use it, however, and everything went into a tie break. Rafa led 3-2, but Medvedev got five points in a row to collect the first set in less than an hour. In the ensuing set, the 33-year-old man from Manakori attacked from the start, snatching his opponent’s services in the “game”.
Medvedev was nervous for most of the set and, consequently, with a “break” game, right at the start and end of the set, Nadal equalized the figures without much difficulty.
Moscow tennis player dominated the first half of the final set to break away 4-0, and even in the fifth game the 23-year-old missed two more opportunities to fly to a 5-0 lead, however, precisely In those moments, the unbelievable upheaval also began, because, driven by the public and the foolishness of the counterweight, who underestimated the situation and thought the meeting was closed prematurely, Rafa returned everything.
The world No. 4 won 6th game 0 and led 5-1, however after canceling out an opportunity for the opponent, Nadal quickly recovered two disadvantaged “games”. In closing, in a 4-3 tie break for the Russian tennis player, Rafa secured the final three points of the challenge to win the whole match with a 6-7, 6-3, 7-6 lead in nearly three hours of play.
Andre Agassi’s first win for Mallorca tennis player last season missed the ATP World Tour Finals, a success that makes it possible to recover 200 points over his rival Novak Djokovic in the battle between them to close out the year in the throne of the sport, thus bringing Rafa’s advantage again to 640 points over Noles, furthermore the world number 2 is significantly at risk of disqualification, as he will measure the strength on Thursday evening with the record of this tournament, Roger Federer , and a defeat at that 32-year-old Serbia’s meeting would guarantee the famous Spanish tennis player’s top ATP ranking.