D. Thiem b. R. Nadal 7-6(7) 7-6(4)
Most likely the best match so far in these 2020 ATP Finals, and possibly one of the best matches of this indoor season, has opened Day 3 of the men’s year-end championships at the O2 Arena in London. Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem put up a great show for tennis fans gathered in front of screens around the world, as the COVID-19 pandemic is keeping the stands of the Greenwich Arena empty.
Nadal missed his chance to take a lead in the match during the first tie-break, when he was leading 5-2 and was serving to end the hard-fought set. But Thiem played well, won three points with winners from the baseline and eventually won the tie-break by 9 points to 7. Then in the second set Nadal managed to take a break to serve at 4-3, but his opponent raised his level to break back immediately and was the better player at the end of the second tie-break after having seen three consecutive match points pass by at 5-4.
THE MATCH
Not much to distance the two in the first set: no break points in the first six games, with Nadal having to come back from 15-30 at 2-3 and from 0-30 at 4-5, when Thiem helped him missing three returns in a row, but no real danger for neither contender on their respective serves.
Funnily enough, as it often happens in these cases, the tie-breaker opened with four mini-breaks in the first four points. Then at 2-3 Thiem put an easy drop shot wide on a very short return by the Spaniard, and could not fend off Nadal’s passing shots on the point after the change of end. Serving for the set at 5-2, the world no. 2 was however ineffective at wrapping up the set, losing three points in a row on some very good progressions from the baseline by his opponent.
Nadal was however the first to get to set-point, following a disastrous double fault by Thiem at 5-5, but he squandered it putting a backhand in the net. The Austrian held his two serves at 6-7 canceling Nadal’s second set point, and at 8-7, he thundered an inside-out forehand to clinch the first set after 72 minutes of battle.
The first game of the second set saw the first break point of the match, which Thiem quickly dismissed with a similar forehand progression that gave him the second set. After a first set full of net approaches and serve and volley dashes by two players who normally play from well behind the baseline, both competitors went back to schemes more usual to them trading shots from the baseline and returning from very close to the advertising backboard.
It was Nadal who finally obtained the first break, edging to 4-3 in the second set, but that turned out to be a short-term advantage as the match seemed to take a quick turn for the Austrian when Thiem broke back, held for 5-4 and was gifted three match point by three unusual unforced errors by Nadal.
After putting a backhand volley wide and missing a smash in rapid sequence, the Spaniard, as clutch as ever, pulled out of his hat a string of five consecutive points to level the set at 5-5.
It came down to another tie-break, where at 3-3 Thiem threaded a powerful backhand passing down the line and then held two serves for three more consecutive match points at 6-3. A cross-court backhand by Nadal landing wide after 2 hours, 25 minutes of play gave the match to Dominic Thiem, finishing the match with 37 winners and only 22 unforced errors.
WORDS FROM THE PLAYERS
“It’s one of the best matches I have played so far in my career – said Dominic Thiem immediately after the match – close to the second groups match last year against Nole. Probably he was the better player in the first set breaker, but I still won. Although Rafa is 100% from first to last point, but it is very important to win the first set, because he has an incredible percentage after he wins the first set. The second set had everything; I played the best game of the match to get the rebreak – it’s a match I will remember for a very long time”.
With this match Thiem boosts his chances to qualify to the semifinals, and will be sure of being part of the top 4 of the tournament in case of a win by Rublev over Tsitsipas, but above all he obtains a prestigious win after a bleak period: “Today probably I played a bit better than at the US Open, maybe the best match since the restart. It was hard to come back after US Open and Paris, then the home tournament in Vienna with a little injury, I am really happy to have come back this way”.
As for Nadal, he was obviously disappointed for the result, but still happy about his level: “A great match of tennis, decided by a few details. Well done to him, he played an amazing match, I played well, too. I had chances in the first, being 5-2 and two serves in the tie-break, I was a break up in the second. My chances to have a big result are bigger than they were five days ago, my level of tennis is higher now”.
