ATP Finals: Dominic Thiem shocks Rafael Nadal in tight thriller
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ByEurosport
Updated 17/11/2020 at 18:00 GMT
Rafael Nadal hoped to make it two wins out of two in Group London 2020 at the Nitto ATP Finals - but he had not reckoned with the brilliance of an in-form Dominic Thiem.
Dominic Thiem
Image credit: Getty Images
Dominic Thiem shocked Rafael Nadal in their round-robin match in the ATP Finals, 7-6(7), 7-6(4).
Nadal was hoping to make it two wins out of two as he continued his campaign for a title he has never yet won - but in a tremendous contest, Thiem proved the more precise.
"I think it was a great match from the first to the last point," said Thiem afterwards.
I was lucky to get the first set...against Rafa it's nice to win the first set, but he's there until the last point. I had to stay super-focused."
He took an enthralling first set to a tie-break - in which Nadal did have set point.
The Austrian's backhand down the line presented plenty of problems throughout - and he raced through the second set to grab three set points at 5-4.
But Nadal's tenacity meant he saved all three and went on to take the game, winning five straight points with a combination of a tweener and excellent lobbing.
And although the world number two started the second-set tie-break in strong style, Thiem hit back, using the width of the court to leave Nadal stranded, and eventually taking the match.
Thiem beat reigning champion Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in his opening round-robin match and will qualify for the semi-finals if Tsitsipas beats Russia's Andrey Rublev later.
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