Dimitrov beats Thiem as Nadal prepares to take bow
ALL EYES ARE ON A POTENTIAL SHOWDOWN BETWEEN NADAL AND FEDERER
rigor Dimitrov launched his bid for glory at the ATP Finals yesterday with a 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 victory over Dominic Thiem as Rafael Nadal prepared to start his quest for the biggest title missing from his impressive collection.
A single break was enough for Bulgaria’s Dimitrov to take the first set, with Thiem only managing to land 37 per cent of first serves in front of a sizeable crowd at London’s O2 Arena.
In a tight second set, sixth seed Dimitrov earned a potentially decisive break point in the 11th game but Thiem, whose service numbers improved significantly, held firm, lashing a forehand winner down the line and edging ahead 6-5.
Austria’s Thiem, the fourth seed, pressed home his advantage, making the most of some nervy play by Dimitrov to break to love and level the match at one set apiece.
In a topsy-turvy decider, Dimitrov served for the match after a single break but blew his chance as Thiem broke back to level the set at 5-5.
But the Bulgarian hit back again immediately to break his opponent and, despite squandering two match points, held his nerve to close out the match.
Later, Nadal takes on David Goffin in the second match in the Pete Sampras group, with questions over his fitness after the Spaniard admitted he was not training at 100 per cent following his withdrawal from the Paris Masters with a knee injury.
The world number one has won 75 singles titles in his illustrious career, including 16 Grand Slams and 30 Masters events but he has yet to win the ATP Finals in seven previous appearances.
In the absence of Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, all eyes are on a potential showdown in London between Nadal and Roger Federer, who started his bid for a seventh ATP Finals title with a straight-sets victory against America’s Jack Sock on Sunday.
The ATP Finals feature the top eight fit male singles players and doubles teams that have accrued the most points throughout the 2017 season.
The tournament is organised on a round-robin basis, with the best two from each group progressing to the semi-finals.
Earlier, German 20-year-old Alexander Zverev marked his ATP Finals debut with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Marin Cilic on Sunday.
The world number three, the Grigor Dimitrov (BULx6) bt Dominic Thiem (Austria) 6-3, 5-7, 7-5
Roger Federer (SUI x2) bt Jack Sock (USA x8) 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) Alexander Zverev (GER x3) bt Marin Cilic (CRO x5) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
Group Eltingh/Haarhuis Ryan Harrison/Michael Venus (USA/NZL x8) bt Henri Kontinen/John Peers (FIN/ AUS x2) 6-4, 7-6 (10/8). youngest qualifier for the season-ender for nine years, appeared to be fading after a dazzling start, but surged back in style. With Cilic serving to stay in the match, Zverev produced a stunning backhand winner to earn three match points and needed only one of them, crunching away an easy volley to win.
Defeat left Croatian Cilic, beaten in this year’s Wimbledon final by Roger Federer, with a miserable 1-6 career record in the London season-ender.
Zverev, bidding to become the first German to finish the year in the world’s top three since Boris Becker in 1994, will face a mouthwatering clash with Federer today.
Six-times champion Federer had earlier beaten Jack Sock.
Whatever else happens to Sock at the ATP Finals this week, his between-the-legs volley at 4-4 in the second set of his debut match will feature in the end-oftournament showreel. Trouble is Roger Federer was on the other side of the net and Sock’s magic moment proved in vain as the Swiss maestro spun a backhand winner past the stranded American.
Sock, the first American to qualify for the ATP Finals since 2011, felt Federer’s winner owed a little to luck — not that the world number two needed much of that commodity to claim his 53rd career victory in the season-ender.