Raf pulls off stunning comeback win to stay in Finals

RAFAEL Nadal won a “one in 1,000” match after coming from 5-1 and match point down to sink Daniil Medvedev at the ATP Finals and boost his bid to finish the year as world number one.

In a rematch of their marathon US Open final of September, which Nadal won in five, the Spaniard looked on the brink of elimination as

Medvedev broke his serve twice at the start of the third set.

But at 5-1 down Nadal wriggled out of match point against with a cute drop shot, and hot-headed Russian Medvedev promptly unravelled.

The 23-year-old began sarcastically applauding his coaching team as Nadal hauled back game after game, edging the match ominously towards a tie-break.

Nadal duly got on the board at London’s 02 by wrapping up a dramatic 6-7 (3) 6-3 7-6 (4 ) victory in two hours 44 minutes.

“Today is one of these days that one time out of 1,000 you lose this match, and it happened today,” said Nadal. “I’m very happy for that, and very sorry for him, honestly, because to lose a match like this is tough, and it’s painful.

“At 5-1, in that moment, what you think is probably in five minutes you are in the locker room, because that’s the more normal thing..”

Nadal, who was well below his best as he slumped in straight sets to Alexander Zverev in his first roundrobin match, now faces young Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas on Friday as he bids to reach the semi-finals.

Tsitsipas secured his place in the last four last night after beating defending champion Zverev.

The 21-year-old, who overcame Medvedev in their opening roundrobin match, dispatched German Zverev 6-3 6-2.