ATP Finals 2020: London says goodbye to season-ending tournament
As the ATP Finals tournament moves from London to Turin, BBC Sport looks at the memorable moments from 12 years of tennis.
As the ATP Finals tournament moves from London to Turin, BBC Sport looks at the memorable moments from 12 years of tennis.
Straight after Daniil Medvedev left the trophy ceremony in celebration of his Nitto ATP Finals victory, his first stop was joining Gael Monfils and Andy Murray’s Twitch stream. It’s safe to say the Russian was thrilled after capturing the biggest title of his career.
“It’s just unbelievable, because it’s 10 matches I’ve won in a row and two of the biggest tournaments at the end of the year. I remember my first match against [Kevin] Anderson in Paris where he retired at 5/2 in the tie-break. I couldn’t put one return in the court. I was sometimes on the ball, but it was going 10 metres out and in my mind I was like, ‘I’m playing so bad right now. I’m playing so bad,’” Medvedev said. “Then just by fighting, by keeping in the matches I started to raise my level and just played unbelievable.
“Today was probably the best victory of my life, not in terms even of the title, in terms of the match. To beat Dominic when he is playing like this, he is really tough. I think he actually likes the way I play, so it was really tough mentally. I’m just the happiest man in the world at this moment.”
Watch Replay Of Twitch Stream
Murray was quite amused that Medvedev did not show emotions after championship point, also adding that he noticed the 24-year-old’s coach, Gilles Cervara, didn’t get overly excited either.
“My coach can have emotions, but I think they maybe turned the camera when it was the wrong moment,” Medvedev said. “But also when I don’t have emotions, it’s tough for him. He’s alone there, and he will not be screaming alone.”
Medvedev said that the lack of celebration doesn’t mean he’s not pumped.
“It started last year at the US Open more or less when I had some problems with the crowd. I think every player at one moment in his career decides maybe one thing special he wants to do [with his] tennis, something like this,” Medvedev said. “I know how to keep my emotions, not all the time, [as] especially the bad ones are tough to control. But I know how to control them and [that] lets me [do] this thing.
“They showed the 12 winners of the London [Nitto ATP] Finals. Everybody was lying on the ground, crying, screaming. And me they couldn’t even show the celebration. They just showed how we shook hands… if they would just show me walking, it would be stupid. In a way, it’s special. I know it’s not in any way cocky, I don’t try to be cocky or anything. But [it’s] just my style that I will keep for all my career.”
The first-time season finale champion was quick to point out that off the court, he has celebrated plenty. He turned his attention to Monfils.
“One of my best victories in my life is also when I beat you 3-0 in FIFA!” Medvedev said, as the Frenchman began laughing hysterically. “[That was] something special. I was celebrating, I was not even calm there. I was celebrating, Andy! I was celebrating this.”
“He’s always telling me he’s the best on the Tour on PlayStation and he’s unbelievable,” Murray said. “But I know about 10 people who have killed him!”
“Daniil I will get you back, no worries brother,” Monfils said as he continued to laugh.
Dominic Thiem is determined to continue targeting the top of the FedEx ATP Rankings and keep perspective after being denied the Nitto ATP Finals title for a second year in a row, falling in a thrilling three-set clash against Daniil Medvedev on Sunday night.
The World No.3 led the Russian by a set and held break chances in two of his opponent’s service games in the second set. But just as Stefanos Tsitsipas did to Thiem in last year’s final, Medvedev fought his way back and roared to a 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 victory at The O2.
Having had time to reflect on the ‘would have’, ‘could have’ and ‘should haves’, Thiem said that there’s not much he would have done differently against Medvedev in their fifth FedEx Head2Head clash. If the Austrian was going to go down, he was happy he did it while playing his game.
“Honestly, I would do the same again, play a lot of slice,” Thiem reflected in his post-match press conference. “The way he broke me in the third set was an unreal game. He put great returns in. I had [a] few chances to convert that game. He played some great rallies there.
“Probably if you look at the whole tournament, he was the best player,” Thiem added. “He didn’t lose a set in the group stage. Beat No. 2 and No. 3 players in the world in the semis and in the final, so he definitely deserved that title.”
The loss will surely sting after leading by a set in the final – and having to fight past two heavyweights in Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, the two top-ranked players in the world to even reach that stage. But the Austrian was quick to put things in perspective after a rollercoaster 2020 season that saw him reach the biggest title of his career at the US Open, playing under unprecedented ‘bubble’ conditions due to COVID-19.
“When the tennis world, our job came back – I mean, luckily it came back – everything was different with life in the bubble, playing without [a] crowd. There were many, many new experiences,” Thiem reflected. “I think it is still a very tough year for many, many people. We athletes, and I’m speaking of tennis players, we are very privileged to do our jobs.
“If I speak about the tennis, if I speak about my job, I mean, it has been an outstanding year. I have reached one of my big lifetime goals with winning that Grand Slam.
“So even though it’s a tough year, it will always have a special place in my heart this year, 100%.”
[WATCH LIVE 3]Last year, Thiem responded emphatically to his Nitto ATP Finals defeat by playing some of the best tennis of his career. The defeat seemed to galvanise him as he started the year with first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open, and after the Tour’s six-month break he continued to reach new heights with his US Open title, reaching his career-high FedEx ATP Ranking.
What could lie ahead in 2021? Far from satisfied with his No. 3 spot, Thiem said he’s determined to narrow the gap between him and the world’s best.
“It was still a very intense year, since the Tour returned [it] was super intense, so I haven’t set myself any goals yet for next year,” he mused. “But of course I want to climb up the Rankings.
“I mean, this year and also [last] year has been amazing. I was playing great and had deep runs in many, many big tournaments. That’s what I want to do as well next year. If I’m able to do that, I think I will also get chances to climb the Rankings.”
Watch the best shots as Daniil Medvedev fights back to beat US Open champion Dominic Thiem 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 and win the biggest title of his career at the ATP Finals in London.
Daniil Medvedev fights back to beat US Open champion Dominic Thiem and win the biggest title of his career at the ATP Finals.
Daniil Medvedev forced a deciding set against Dominic Thiem in the championship match of the Nitto ATP Finals Sunday evening, levelling their clash at 4-6, 7-6(2).
Medvedev saved three break points in the second set and played a clean, aggressive tie-break to send the match to a third set after one hour and 52 minutes. Thiem took a 2/0 lead, but the Russian earned seven consecutive points with sneaks into the net to take the momentum. The winner will be a first-time champion at the season finale.
[WATCH LIVE 1]Thiem leads the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head series 3-1. Their most recent clash came in the semi-finals of the US Open, where the Austrian triumphed in straight sets. Medvedev is in his best form of the year though, following his Rolex Paris Masters title. The Russian has won nine consecutive matches, including six against the Top 10. Before Paris-Bercy, he had not beaten a Top 10 opponent all year.
Medvedev is known for his nearly impenetrable defence, but he showed early on that he wanted to control play from the baseline, stepping inside the court to try to keep Thiem from unleashing his powerful groundstrokes. The World No. 4 attacked Thiem’s forehand to try to stop the Austrian from playing from the ad court.
But at 2-2, Medvedev let slip a 40/0 advantage, including a missed overhead, to concede the break. Thiem battled back from 15/30 as he served out the set and clinched the opener with a forehand passing shot that clipped the net.
Thiem has taken another step forward this season, reaching his first hard-court Grand Slam final at the Australian Open and lifting his first major trophy at the US Open. Now he is trying to claim the season finale crown one year on from losing a final-set tie-break in the championship match at The O2 against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Medvedev went winless on his tournament debut in London last year. But he is now trying to become the undefeated 2020 champion. The Russian can become just the second player in Nitto ATP Finals to go winless in his debut and lift the trophy the next year (Novak Djokovic, 2008).
Both Medvedev and Thiem defeated Djokovic and Rafael Nadal this week, marking the fourth and fifth time a player beat the two legends at the Nitto ATP Finals in the same year. If Medvedev emerges victorious Sunday, he will become the first to defeat the top three players in the FedEx ATP Rankings at the season finale. That has only happened three times at a single event since the start of the ATP Tour in 1990.
Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic finished their team debut season with their first title on Sunday, as they beat Jurgen Melzer and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-2, 4-6, 10-5 to claim the Nitto ATP Finals trophy.
The fifth seeds, who joined forces at the Adelaide International in January, won 61 per cent of their second-serve return points (11/18) to clinch the trophy in 76 minutes. It was a case of third time lucky for the Dutch-Croatian tandem, which lost its first two finals at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille and the US Open earlier this year. Koolhof and Mektic end the season with a 24-13 team record.
“[It is] a dream come true to have qualified here for this event,” said Koolhof during the trophy ceremony. “[We] managed to play some very good tennis, made it through the group stage. Won yesterday, played a very good match yesterday. Played here the final today, which is always a dream, to play every final. But to play the final of the [Nitto ATP] Finals is very big and [we are] extremely happy to have won.”
Koolhof is the fourth Dutch player to win the Nitto ATP Finals doubles crown. The 31-year-old joins two-time champions Jacco Eltingh/Paul Haarhuis (1993, ’98) and Jean-Julien Rojer (2015) in the exclusive club. Mektic is the first Croatian to capture a trophy at the season finale.
“I cannot express how I feel,” said Mektic. “[I am] really, really happy. It’s like a dream come true.”
One of the key features of Koolhof and Mektic’s title run at The O2 has been the consistent success they have found on their returns. The pair continued that trend in the opening game of the match, as Mektic ripped a forehand return winner down the line to break serve. Koolhof and Mektic fired low returns at 3-1 to earn a double-break advantage and clinched the set with a love service hold.
Melzer and Roger-Vasselin earned the first break of the second set, as Roger-Vasselin extracted volley errors with aggressive play from the baseline. The St. Petersburg champions held three service games with relative ease to force the final to a Match Tie-break.
In the Match Tie-break, Mektic took the initiative to make the crucial difference. The Croat connected on multiple returns and played with composure at the net to reach 9/5. On the pair’s first championship point, Melzer struck a double fault to end the match.
”Wes, obviously thank you very much. It’s our first title together. Not bad for a first one… It’s been a great tournament for us and amazing way to finish the year,” said Mektic.
[DATA DIVE]Melzer and Roger-Vasselin were also attempting to lift the trophy on their team debut at the season finale. The pair topped Group Bob Bryan with a 2-1 record and rallied from 1/7 down in a Match Tie-break to defeat Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the semi-finals. Melzer and Roger-Vasselin end their 2020 ATP Tour season with a 26-15 record, highlighted by their title run at the St. Petersburg Open.
”It was a hell of a ride. We have been fighting hard since Roland Garros, played almost every week to get here and then coming to the Nitto ATP Finals is a great achievement,” said Melzer. “Of course it stings today, and it hurts, but in the end we’re going to look back at being runners-up here. The Nitto [ATP Finals] is the pinnacle of our sport. Every player wants to be part of this event. I was lucky enough to make it three times and I will always look back and cherish this moment.”
Koolhof and Mektic, who ended the tournament with a 4-1 record, collected 1,300 FedEx ATP Doubles Team Ranking points and split $254,500 in prize money. Melzer and Roger-Vasselin earned 800 points and shared $184,500.
”Thanks Jurgen for this great year. [It was our] last match together today,” said Roger-Vasselin. “We wish we could have the other trophy, but it was a long, long journey to come to London and get to the final. Maybe after a couple of days I will realize it was a good week. But right now, it’s painful.”
Did You Know?
Ten of the 15 doubles matches at The O2 this year required a Match Tie-break.
Rafael Nadal tried to change his game against Daniil Medvedev on Saturday in the semi-finals of the Nitto ATP Finals. But the Russian solved the Spaniard’s puzzle, and that helped him reach the championship match at the season finale.
During Group London 2020 play, Nadal did not excessively use his slice. He sliced 14 per cent of his shots against Andrey Rublev, 12 per cent against Dominic Thiem and 10 per cent against defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in a must-win match.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion then made a massive tactical change against Medvedev, slicing 31 per cent of the time against the three-time ATP Masters 1000 titlist to slow the pace of the match and make things difficult for Medvedev, who hits some of the flattest groundstrokes on the ATP Tour. A biting slice stays lower to the court, making the next shot tougher for Medvedev to hit.
Using this strategy and smart trips to the net helped Nadal stymie Medvedev and gain a 6-3, 5-4 lead, putting him in position to serve out the match.
“He was just slicing slowly and playing slowly from there,” said Medvedev, who had lost his three previous ATP Head2Head meetings against Nadal. “I think he only hit maybe two winners in the match from the backhand side.”
2020 Nitto ATP Finals Nadal’s Slice Percentage By Match
| Opponent | Slice Percentage |
| Andrey Rublev | 14% |
| Dominic Thiem | 12% |
| Stefanos Tsitsipas | 10% |
| Daniil Medvedev | 31% |
The Spaniard actually hit six backhand winners, but by using the slice so often, which worked for a good chunk of the match, he allowed Medvedev to take the initiative in the important moments. Nadal saved the first two break points he faced at 3-3 in the decider, and he did not hit a slice on either point.
But the third time was the charm for the fourth seed, as Medvedev finally took advantage of the opening the slicing gave him. On the third break point he faced in the game, Nadal hit three consecutive backhand slices. On the third one, Medvedev anticipated the lefty would hit a slice, and he snuck into net, where he caught Nadal off guard. His backhand volley forced the second seed to attempt a chip backhand lob, which Medvedev smashed away with an overhead.
It was a perfectly constructed point by Medvedev in which every element of his game clicked together.
In the final set of their semi-final, 37 per cent of Nadal’s shots were slices. In his first three matches of this year’s Nitto ATP Finals, his highest slice percentage in a set was 17 per cent in the first set against Rublev, which was his first set of the week.
Nadal had a strategy against Medvedev, and it didn’t come out of nowhere. Last year at The O2, the Spaniard rallied from a 5-1 deficit in the third set to defeat Medvedev. In that match, the lefty sliced 23 per cent of the time, but he only sliced 16 per cent of his shots in the deciding set, when he made his epic comeback.
Medvedev vs Nadal Slice Comparison: Set-By-Set
| Slice Percentage | Daniil Medvedev | Rafael Nadal |
| Set 1 | 2% | 29% |
| Set 2 | 15% | 26% |
| Set 3 | 7% | 37% |
| Total | 8% | 31% |
The slice kept Medvedev at bay for a while on Saturday, but the Russian kept fighting and finally got more comfortable dealing with it as the match wore on.
“[I] started to feel more the link of the game. I think I could feel it in the score and actually everything about the match,” Medvedev said. “The tie-break and third set [were] really good.”
– Slice statistics courtesy of Hawkeye
Daniil Medvedev knew that he’d have to put away Rafael Nadal on Saturday evening to reach the Nitto ATP Finals championship match for the first time. One year ago, he led the Spaniard 5-1 in the third set and had a match point, but couldn’t finish the job.
This time, the Russian snapped the legendary lefty’s 71-match winning streak after taking the opening set to remain undefeated (4-0) at this year’s season finale. The fourth seed dug deep for two hours and 36 minutes to earn his first ATP Head2Head victory against Nadal.
“To beat Rafa, you need everything: [a] good backhand, good forehand working [that] day,” Medvedev said. “Mentally you need to be super strong, because he’s there [for] all the points.”
It’s not easy to beat the best. Medvedev and his opponent in the final, Dominic Thiem, both defeated World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Nadal this week. Only three players had previously done that at the Nitto ATP Finals, and the last occurrence was 10 years ago, when Roger Federer did it.
The top four players in the FedEx ATP Rankings reached the semi-finals of the season finale for the first time since 2004. Djokovic and Nadal own 37 combined Grand Slam championships. The third and fourth seeds, Thiem and Medvedev, have one, and that is Thiem’s recent US Open title.
So when Medvedev battled past Nadal Saturday evening, he was happy to help shake things up. He had seen a post on social media recognising the four semi-finalists that caught his attention.
“The comment [that] got the most likes was, ‘My mind is saying Dominic and Daniil will be in the final and my heart goes for Rafa and Novak,’” Medvedev recalled, cracking a smile. “This time the mind won. It’s great that we managed to beat two [of the] biggest players in the history of sport…
“I think it’s super for tennis. We are starting to get to take our marks. Dominic won his first Slam [and he is] playing unbelievable tennis right now. [It’s] not going to be easy. Hopefully I can play good like this. I for sure can cause him some troubles.”
[WATCH LIVE 1]The rising stars have known each other since the juniors, so there will be no secrets on Centre Court at The O2 on Sunday. Medvedev and Thiem practised together twice since they arrived in London, where they have both made history. Now they’ll lace up their sneakers one more time and see who lifts the trophy.
The only difference is that this is no longer an early-round junior match in Umag, where they first met when Medvedev was 14. This is for one of the biggest titles in tennis. If Medvedev wins, he will become the first player in Nitto ATP Finals history to defeat the top three players in the FedEx ATP Rankings en route to the crown.
“Dominic is [an] amazing player,” Medvedev said. “I think it’s going to be great tennis tomorrow.”
Did You Know?
A first-time champion at the season finale is guaranteed for the fifth consecutive year.
As much as he might like to, Novak Djokovic won’t carry the No. 1 FedEx ATP Ranking to his grave. He’s occupied the perch for a total of 295 weeks (and counting) and is just 15 weeks away from Roger Federer’s all-time record mark of 310 career weeks.
At times this season, he’s looked very much like an indestructible superhero. But as good as he’s been—41-4 coming into Saturday’s semi-finals— the cold reality is this: someone will overtake him sooner or later. On Saturday, as the world’s top four players convened at The O2, the question posed by The Who in 1971 was very much on the table once again: Who’s next?
[WATCH LIVE 1]No one can discount the possibility that that other pair of tennis superheroes you may have heard about, Señor Rafael Nadal and Herr Roger Federer, could reclaim their thrones. But another scenario is that one of Djokovic’s younger rivals will eventually supplant him. On Saturday, two of the likeliest suspects—Dominic Thiem, 27, and Daniil Medvedev, 24—had auditions to play the role of heir apparent.
While Sunday’s championship match at the Nitto ATP Finals is a massive deal in and of itself, it may also reveal who among this pair is most likely to threaten Djokovic’s hold on No. 1 in the future.
Thiem leads his ATP Head2Head series against Medvedev 3-1. The Russian’s sole win came on an outdoor hard court in Montreal last year, during his scorching hot summer when he made it to the final of six consecutive tournaments, winning three of them. This will be their first meeting indoors. Thiem took their last match in the semi-finals of this year’s US Open in straight sets, but the Russian served for the second and third sets before falling in close tie-breaks, 9/7 and 7/5.
Thiem said after that match that tie-breaks are “really mentally a tough thing.” “I don’t like them at all, to be honest,” he said.
Of course, he liked them a lot better when he won a dramatic fifth set tie-break over Alexander Zverev in the final two days later to capture his first major. That win, coupled with what’s he accomplished this week, will give him a huge head of steam as he seeks to capture his first Nitto ATP Finals title Sunday against Medvedev, who is riding his own wave into the match.
[DATA DIVE]Look for Thiem to swing away, aiming for lines. He may also take a page out of Nadal’s playbook and try to draw the Russian into the net, where he’s less confident. Thiem, who stayed to watch the second semi-final, will enter the match with a 25-8 record on the season. He was 7-15 versus the Big Three prior to 2019, but is a spectacular 9-3 against them since. He has more wins (17) at the majors than any other player this year and has had a better season than any other player, with the possible exception of Djokovic, who has five titles to his two.
Medvedev, the name means “bear” in Russian, comes into the final carrying a 27-10 record on the season. Pretty heady stuff for a kid whose parents used to drive him 90 minutes each way to train in Moscow before they moved to France to advance his career at age 14. Expectations for him soared after he reached the final of six consecutive tournaments last season, winning three of them, but his fifth gear has eluded him at times this season. He’s a streaky player who’s currently on a roll, which means he’ll be a tough out Sunday.
Medvedev looks like a man of the future, but after his semi-final win over Nadal he allowed himself to wistfully look back to his first encounter with Thiem from their junior days. The Russian was just 14, the last to qualify for a tournament in Umag, Croatia, while Thiem was the reigning junior Roland Garros champion.
“He destroyed me 2 and 0, I think,” Medvedev recalled. “I think I maybe
made a ‘tweener winner if I’m not mistaken. Actually (I) lost the memory of this match, and he (reminded) me (of it) in some interview one time about it… I had (a) crazy attitude on the court (then), like 10 times worse than right now. He told me after the match, ‘You’re going to have a good future maybe, but you need to be a little bit more calm.’ Because I was going crazy.”
Calm or crazy, whomever prevails, it’ll be the sixth consecutive year with a different Nitto ATP Finals champion, which is hard to believe in a sport that’s been dominated by three men for so many years. Djokovic said after his loss that it was “too early” to say if Thiem posed a threat to his hold on No. 1. He won’t be here to revisit that opinion Sunday, nor would he want to. But one thing is certain: the man who holds the trophy Sunday will be the one who will bear the weight of great expectations, as tennis’ next chosen one, heading into 2021. Neither would want it any other way.
