ATP Finals: Nail-biting matches highlight spectacular Day 3

Group London 2020’s second day of play was a nail-biting slugfest that ended in a Thiem victory and a Tsitsipas triumph. With this, Thiem has officially qualified for the ATP Finals semis.

Day 3 of the ATP Finals certainly did not disappoint. Two great matches took place today between members of the London 2020 Group. With two matches now under their belts, here are the standings for the four:

1. Dominic Thiem (2-0)
2. Rafael Nadal (1-1)
3. Stefanos Tsitsipas (1-1)
4. Andrey Rublev (0-2)

The day began with a much-anticipated matchup: World No. 2 Rafael Nadal versus World No. 3 Dominic Thiem. In an incredible 7-6(7), 7-6(4) win, Thiem fought back brilliantly throughout the course of the match. After 12 consecutive holds for the pair (with just one of those going into deuce), Nadal took five of the first seven points of the first set tiebreak, putting him just two points from taking it.

He squandered both of his following service points. Nadal lost his third point in a row to even the set at 5-all but jumped out to get a set point opportunity. Thiem took that (and the next set point at 7-6) away from Nadal, ultimately taking the back-and-forth battle 9-7 to win the first set.

The second set did come with a change: break points (and a lot of them at that). Nadal had one on Thiem’s serve to open the set but could not convert. Luckily for him, he won a clutch break point that gave him a 4-3 lead. It seemed that, after the rough end to the first set tiebreak, the 20-time major champion was back in control. That feeling unfortunately didn’t last long, as Thiem broke right back for 4-all.

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With a Thiem hold for 5-4, he was in a position to take the match. He was maddeningly close, getting to love-40 on Nadal’s serve before losing all three of his match point chances. In vintage Nadal fashion, he took not only those three points but also both points in deuce consecutively to even the match at 5-all.

In the subsequent tiebreak, it was all Thiem. After a 3-all start, he won three consecutive points, finishing his opponent on his second match point try.

"“Definitely one of the better matches I have played in my career,” Thiem said after the win."

The second match of the day might have outplayed the first. Tsitsipas prevailed in a 3-set epic over Rublev 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(6). The first set was all Tsitsipas; he lost just three points on his serve throughout the set and converted both of his break point opportunities in just 20 minutes. Rublev picked up his game in the second set and kept the match on serve up until the last game of the set. After saving two break points at 3-all, the Russian finally got his game together, breaking Tsitsias at love at 5-4 to even the match.

The third set took every last drop from each of the two warriors. Taking longer than the two previous sets combined, Tsitsipas and Rublev went shot for shot throughout the one-hour and two-minute saga. At 1-all, Rublev saved four break points in a five deuce game, keeping the match on serve. The two would have another break chance for the remainder of the set, forcing the match into a (fitting) final set tiebreak.

Tsitsipas held a 5-2 advantage in the tiebreak before Rublev unleased his killer mentality. Rublev won the next four points, gaining a match point at 6-5. From there, however, it was the all-more experienced player who prevailed. Tsitsipas fought out of the match point and won the next two points to take the match.

With the win, Tsistipas did two things: He guaranteed a semifinal spot for Thiem (since Thiem beat him during Day 1) and put himself in a dramatic winner-take-all showdown against Nadal on Thursday, with the winner taking the last semifinal spot for the group. Unfortunately for Finals rookie Rublev, his time at the O2 Arena will end once the group stage concludes. He put up an incredible fight and will be hot in contention for next year.

Tomorrow’s matches bode a different scenario. The winner-take-all match will be between Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev (the late match for the day). Since both players won their opening match, the winner will automatically put themselves into the semifinal with two total group wins.

On the other hand, it’s a survival of the fittest matchup between Alexander Zverev and Diego Schwartzman. The loser will drop to 0-2 and will subsequently be unable to qualify for the semifinals.