Inspired Thiem outshines Nadal
LOND ON • Austria’s Dominic Thiem produced a fearless display of attacking tennis to beat Rafa Nadal 7- 6 ( 7), 7- 6 ( 4) in a high- quality duel to book his place in the last four at the ATP Finals on Tuesday.
The world No. 3 struck 37 clean winners to claim his second round robin victory and reigning champion Stefanos Tsitsipas’s narrow defeat of Andrey Rublev later guaranteed the Austrian a semifinal spot with a match to spare.
“Definitely one of the better matches I have played so far in my career,” this year’s U. S. Open champion Thiem said.
Crucially he saved a couple of set points in the first tiebreak before whipping away a forehand to take an opening set in which there was barely a cigarette paper between the two.
Spaniard Nadal, bidding to win the only big title to elude him, engineered the first break of the match at 3-3 in the second set.
Thiem was unshakable, however, and played the sort of courageous tennis that has become his trademark as he forged his way into a 6- 3 lead in the day’s second tiebreak.
Thiem finished it off when his opponent dragged a backhand wide, a rare unforced error in an absorbing contest sadly played out in an empty O2 Arena.
“It was very important to get that first set because the winning percentage he has after winning the first set is incredible,” Thiem, who claimed a sixth win in 15 matches against Nadal, said. “It’s almost impossible to beat him after losing the first set.”
Nadal said “small details” decided a superb contest and remains confident he can still win the elusive title, although on Thursday he faces a shootout with Tsitsipas, who survived an ambush by Russian deputant Rublev to win 6-1, 4- 6, 7- 6 (6).
Elegant Greek Tsitsipas took the opening set against Rublev in 19 minutes but then got dragged into a dogfight.
The combative Rublev grabbed the second set out of nowhere and was the aggressor for much of the decider, eking out a match point in the deciding set tiebreak only to double-fault.
Tsitsipas, beaten by Thiem on Sunday, took full advantage of his fortune to win the next two points and keep his hopes of advancing to the semifinals in his own hands.