Tennis News

Nadal's Wait Continues: ‘I Had A Big Opportunity’

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal could almost see the finish line as he faced a rock-solid Daniil Medvedev for a spot in the championship match at the Nitto ATP Finals.

The 20-time Grand Slam winner claimed a tense opening set against the Russian, a player he had defeated in their previous three ATP Head2Head encounters, and broke late in the second set to serve for the match, leading 5-4. A victory would have put him one step closer to claiming the only Big Title that has eluded him after 10 appearances.

But Medvedev made Nadal wait a little longer, as he broke back to love and turned the match on its head to reach his first final at the season-finale.

“I think at the beginning of the match he was better than me,” Nadal assessed in his post-match press conference. “I was able to save my serves with troubles, but then I played well to have the break and then to close the set.

“In the second, a little bit the same story at the beginning, but at the end of the set I was playing a little bit better than him. And then in the 5-4 I think he played a good game and I didn’t. I played a bad game. That’s it. But I had a big opportunity. I lost a big opportunity.”

The Spaniard faced Medvedev three times during the Russian’s breakout 2019 season – including a meeting in last year’s Nitto ATP Finals group stage. With each match, Medvedev seemed to edge closer and closer to victory: After a straight-sets beatdown in the Coupe Rogers final, he pushed Nadal to five sets in the US Open final. At this event last year, Medvedev led by 5-1 in the third set and held match point before Nadal stormed back to win. 

Leading by a break in the second set on Saturday, Nadal was in pole position to claim his fourth victory in a row over Medvedev and reach his third Nitto ATP Finals championship match. The Spaniard shook off any suggestion that he cracked under pressure, instead giving credit to his opponent for raising his level at the crucial points.

“I think I achieved enough to not find an excuse about the pressure,” Nadal said. “I know I won enough matches and enough tournaments in an even more difficult situation than this one… So I don’t feel that way.

“I feel I played a bad game. Of course you are nervous to win the match. But not [only] me, everybody. [It] is normal to have the tension. I think he played some good points and I made a couple of mistakes.

“Small details make a big difference. Just well done for him and not enough good for me.”

With his abbreviated 2020 season in the books, Nadal was eager to put the defeat behind him and look ahead to next year. The typically level-headed Spaniard said he is approaching the off-season with the same full-throttle drive and motivation as he approaches most matches and tournaments.

“My goal is always the same: to go to every tournament and to give myself a chance to compete well and to try to win it,” Nadal said.

“That’s the goal of every year. My motivation [has] been always the same. Next year is going to be an important year. I hope to be ready to fight for the things that I want to fight [for]. I’m going to work hard during the off-season to be ready for the beginning.”

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Manuel Orantes' Masters Title Worthy Of Hollywood Script

“Looks like the final is over.”

“Fibak is 4-1 up on his serve in the fourth set.”

“You think it’s all over?”

“Oh yeah, done and dusted.”

“No, no, wait a minute! Last year in the US Open semi-finals he made a comeback in a match against Vilas.”

This conversation took place just a few metres behind the seat on which Spain’s Manuel Orantes was sitting. A journalist interviewing guests at The Summit (Houston) during the final of the 1976 Masters approached actor Kirk Douglas to ask him what he thought of the match when the scoreboard read 5-7, 6-2, 0-6, 1-4 to Wojtek Fibak. The Hollywood star was quick to name the Pole as the winner.

Before the microphone was taken away, his wife Anne Buydens joined the conversation. She reminded everyone of the Spaniard’s great comeback a year earlier at the US Open against Guillermo Vilas, when he was losing 4-6, 1-6, 6-2, 0-5 and 15-40. Given such a feat to reach a final, how could you not believe that this time it would be possible to repeat it to become the champion of the Masters? 

“I heard her and gave a thumbs up of approval. I thanked her from a distance. Those words really spurred me on,” Orantes revealed to ATPTour.com.

Such was his motivation at hearing such confidence in him that he not only broke Fibak back, he also won the fourth-set in a tie-break and then took the fifth (5-7, 6-2, 0-6, 7-6, 6-1). The win made Orantes the first Spaniard to win the season-ending championship. “I never thought that against the best in the world and on an indoor hard court, I could win. I was confident that I could do it at any tournament on clay, but winning the Masters was hugely satisfying.”

He was right to be surprised. He was undoubtedly talented enough to be among the best at the end of each season and Houston was the fifth time he had played the Masters, but until then he had yet to progress past the group stage. In 1976 though he followed his win over Roscoe Tanner (7-6, 6-3) with another against Eddie Dibbs (6-4, 6-2). His only defeat came at the hands of Fibak (5-7, 6-7).

He produced a solid performance in the semi-final to defeat Harold Solomon (6-4, 6-3, 6-4). There was now only one step left to claim the title, against the very man who had beaten him in the round robin and had also defeated him in the final in Bournemouth six months earlier.

“Matches always start at zero,” Orantes explained his approach to the Houston final. “Mentally you think what you can do, what you can change. In tennis you sometimes play in a way that doesn’t allow you to win, and you have the advantage of being able to try something new. I tried to take the initiative and play on his backhand, where he didn’t hit it as hard. I was trying to see how he handled things. That’s what I tried from the start and it worked well.”

The surface on which the Masters is played was particularly alien to the Spaniard, who claimed most of his results on clay. In fact, he never played on hard courts until he was 17. However, a year earlier he was crowned doubles champion alongside his compatriot Juan Gisbert. He is still one of just four players to have won the tournament both in singles and doubles, along with Stan Smith, John McEnroe and Stefan Edberg.

“Achieving this kind of thing at big tournaments is very significant,” said the Granada native. “To me the Masters is one of the toughest tournaments, you have to play five matches against the best in the world. You have to play great every day or you lose. It’s not like a Grand Slam where you can grow into it and find your game.”

A revealing conversation with Australia’s John Newcombe during training on hard court helped him understand the magnitude of his feat:

“John, if only I could play as well as you at the net. It would be incredible to have a volley like yours.”

“Do you know why you don’t have this volley?”

“Why?”

“The same reason I don’t have your baseline shots.”

“You’re right.”

“You play for eight hours at the back of the court and I spend eight hours serving and volleying. That’s the difference.”

Despite the success, qualifying in 1976 was far from easy for him as he suffered from the dreaded ‘tennis elbow’. A change of racquet proved to be the best remedy to his woes. “I was playing with a wooden Slazenger and the brand sent me an aluminium racquet. They told me to try it to see what I thought. I started to train at my club with it and I realised that it was really good for my arm. With that racquet I played in Tehran, Madrid and Barcelona, and I won all three tournaments that were on clay. On indoor I reached the finals in London and Stockholm. That’s how I got to the Masters.”

Orantes enjoyed the respect of his opponents, but nobody had him as favourite to lift the trophy in Houston. Apart from Anne Buydens, that is, who had no doubt he would win during the final. Two years later, at the tournament in Palm Springs (California), he had the chance to thank her personally.

“When I played in Palm Springs in 1978, they had a house there and they invited me to breakfast. We played tennis because they had a court and we talked about what they liked about this sport. Kirk Douglas told me he would have loved to be a tennis player and I told him I would have loved to be an actor too. They were big fans and they were very nice to me. It was really amazing.”

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Medvedev Stuns Nadal, To Play For Nitto ATP Finals Title

One year ago, Daniil Medvedev went winless in his Nitto ATP Finals debut. After a thrilling three-set victory against Rafael Nadal on Saturday evening, the World No. 4 is one match from becoming the undefeated 2020 champion.

Nadal served for a straight-sets victory at The O2 in London, but Medvedev rallied for a 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 triumph to reach the championship match at the season finale. The Russian, who has won nine consecutive matches, will play Dominic Thiem for the title.

“I felt really strange until 5-4 for him in the second set, when he was serving for the match,” Medvedev said in an on-court interview. “It felt like I was doing great shots but there was no link in my game and that was why I was losing. He was better in the important moments, I couldn’t return in the important moments, I couldn’t make a good shot in the important moments.

“I decided to change some small things. Just being closer, going for it a little bit more. I felt like I had the chances to win before [in] some games, a set maybe, but it didn’t work, so I had to change and it worked really well. I am really happy about it.”

Medvedev can become the fourth player to triumph at the year-end championships following a winless debut. Nadal entered the match on a 71-match winning streak after taking the opening set, but 24-year-old snapped that run with a gritty mental and physical performance over two hours and 36 minutes.

Medvedev and Thiem have defeated both World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Nadal this week. For the Russian, it was his first ATP Head2Head victory against Nadal (1-3). Last year at The O2, Nadal saved a match point and rallied from 5-1 down in the deciding set of a round-robin match to defeat Medvedev.

It appeared almost certain that one year on, Medvedev wouldn’t make it to a deciding set. Nadal served for a spot in the final at 5-4 in the second set. But a sloppy game, punctuated by a mis-hit forehand off his back foot, allowed the Russian back into the match.

Nadal changed his typical tactics, using a heavy dose of his backhand slice to try to frustrate Medvedev. But instead it was the Spaniard who was stuck searching for answers, as Medvedev remained in his comfort zone. The World No. 4 hit 13 aces and won 77 per cent of his first-serve points in his victory.

Medvedev came out firing early on, making his first 16 serves of the match and pressuring Nadal’s serve, earning three break points in his second return game. But at 3-3 in the opener, Medvedev missed all four of his first serves and paid for it, getting broken at love. Nadal was flawless when he moved forward, going five-for-five at the net in the first set.

The 2010 and 2013 Nitto ATP Finals runner-up played a sloppy first service game of the second set, hitting a rare double fault to concede a break. But Medvedev let slip his advantage and then gave up a second break by hitting a forehand volley right to Nadal, and it seemed that Nadal would surge to a rematch against Thiem, who defeated him in Group London 2020 play on Tuesday.

Nitto ATP Finals Wins vs. Djokovic & Nadal (Same Year)

But Medvedev, who is full of confidence after winning his third ATP Masters 1000 title at the Rolex Paris Masters, maintained his focus. Nadal began making uncharacteristic errors and the Russian applied even more pressure by standing his ground on the baseline in key moments.

Medvedev is not known for his play in the forecourt. But after letting slip two break points at 3-3 in the decider, he snuck into the net to put pressure on the lefty, ultimately earning the break with an overhead winner. He then earned a second break in the set to reach the final against Thiem, who leads their budding rivalry 3-1.

“Dominic is playing amazing right now. Already in the US Open when I lost against him, after the match I was sitting in the locker [room] and I was like, ‘I was playing good [in] this match.’ But he managed to do it, he won his first Grand Slam,” Medvedev said. “The first two times on Centre Court [I practised here] was with him. We had good rallies, it was a really good level of tennis and I said to my coach, ‘He can go far here.’ I don’t know if he said the same… but I am going to see him tomorrow.”

Did You Know?
Medvedev entered Paris-Bercy with an 0-2 record against Top 10 opponents this season. Since then he is 6-0 against the elite group.

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Melzer/Roger-Vasselin Comeback Seals Final Berth

Jurgen Melzer and Edouard Roger-Vasselin had to turn around a 1/7 deficit in the Match Tie-break and save match point to complete a spectacular 6-7(4), 6-3, 11-9 comeback and defeat second seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury.

The victory sent the seventh seeds into the Nitto ATP Finals championship match, where they will take on tournament debutants Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic. It also seals the ATP year-end No. 1 FedEx ATP Doubles Team Ranking for Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares, eliminating Ram and Salisbury from contention.

“We had a talk before Sofia, the week before, [saying] that our attitude must be much better because sometimes when we were a set down or a break down, the shoulders [went] a little bit down, ” said Roger-Vasselin. “From Sofia and here, we said, ‘No matter what, we show good attitude. Always [be] positive [and] help each other and we’ll see what happens.’ I think it was the key because we won two matches [that were] incredible and we are still here. We are in the final. It is definitely amazing.”

The Austrian and French team had to recover after dropping the opening set to a dialied-in Ram and Salisbury. They got off to a fast start, breaking early to build up a 2-0 lead, but Ram and Salisbury quickly levelled the score at 2-2 before edging through in a tie-break.

That seemed to jolt the seventh seeds into action, and Melzer and Roger-Vasselin raised their level to strike back in the second set, reeling off five games in a row to open up a 5-2 lead as they sent the encounter into a Match Tie-break.

Ram and Salisbury regrouped as a pair of double faults – including a second-serve foot fault call against Roger-Vasselin – threatened to derail the seventh seeds. Facing down a 1/7 deficit as Ram and Salisbury looked set to march to victory, Melzer and Roger-Vasselin responded emphatically to reel off seven consecutive points. They had to save a match point before claiming victory in just under two hours to advance to the final.

“I try to enjoy it as much as I can because tomorrow is my last match as a real, professional tennis player,” said Melzer. “It is kind of sad, but it is a great story to end with. Being in the final of the Nitto ATP Finals is just amazing. I would not have dreamt of [this] if you would have told me after the US Open that we are going to be here at the end of the year. I [will] try to enjoy it as much as I can, soak it all up, soak it all and that’s me tomorrow.”

Koolhof and Mektic await in the Nitto ATP Finals championship clash, after the fifth seeds defeated Marcel Granollers/Horacio Zeballos 6-3, 6-4 earlier in the day.

“We are just so happy to be in the final,” said Roger-Vasselin. “We lost the first match in the round robin, so after that we were like, ‘Okay, we have nothing else to lose. We will just fight until the last point.’ That is what we are going to do tomorrow, fight from the first until the last point no matter what.”

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ATP Finals 2020: Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram beaten in semi-finals

Briton Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram agonisingly miss out on the doubles final of the ATP Finals as they lose their semi-final on a match tie-break.

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Pavic & Soares Clinch Year-End No. 1 ATP Doubles Team Ranking

Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares have clinched the year-end No. 1 FedEx ATP Doubles Team Ranking after a strong finish to the 2020 season. Two years ago, Pavic finished in top spot with Oliver Marach, while Soares partnered Jamie Murray in 2016 to become the year-end No. 1 team.

The Croatian-Brazilian team, which completed Group Bob Bryan this week with a 2-1 record at The O2 in London, were assured of year-end No. 1 when Jurgen Melzer and Edouard Roger-Vasselin defeated Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury on Saturday in the semi-finals of the Nitto ATP Finals. Pavic and Soares had come into the season finale just 35 points ahead of second-placed Ram and Salisbury in the FedEx ATP Doubles Team Rankings.

Pavic and Soares, who compiled a 4-5 match record this season prior to the five-month ATP Tour suspension, returned strongly to capture their first Grand Slam championship team trophy in September at the US Open (d. Koolhof/Mektic). They went on to reach two finals in Paris — at Roland Garros (l. to Krawietz/Mies) in October and the Rolex Paris Masters (l. to Auger-Aliassime/Hurkacz) two weeks ago.

ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said: “The battle for the year-end No. 1 doubles team has been closer than ever this year, with all eight teams entering the season finale with a chance to claim top spot. Our congratulations to Mate and Bruno – finishing the year as No. 1 is the ultimate achievement in our sport. They should be very proud of their season and they fully deserve this accolade.

Melzer and Roger-Vasselin will face Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic in the title match of the Nitto ATP Finals on Sunday.

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Dominic Thiem: Existential Threat To Big Three Dominance

2020 has already been a milestone year for Dominic Thiem. He broke into the Top 3 for the first time in March, and in September he captured his first major at the US Open. An on Saturday, he notched his 300th win and, in the process, joined an incredibly exclusive club with just one other member: a Scottish fellow who was knighted by Prince Charles in 2019.

With his remarkable, two-hour, 54-minute victory over Novak Djokovic at The O2 Saturday, the man some affectionately call the Thieminator joined Andy Murray as the second man in tennis history to collect five or more wins against each member of the Big Three—Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

“That is super special to me,” said Thiem of the achievement. “To beat the three best players of all time, five times each is something great for me. It’s a super nice statistic but as I said after the match with Rafa every single match against them is a huge privilege. It’s a huge opportunity to learn and of course if you beat these guys, it gives you a huge boost of confidence.”

Just a few years ago, this achievement seemed improbable. He was 7-15 versus the Big Three prior to 2019, but is a spectacular 9-3 against them since, though two of those losses were particularly painful ones, as they came in major finals (2019 Roland Garros to Nadal and 2020 Australian Open to Djokovic). The Austrian has a 5-2 career advantage over Federer, is now 5-7 versus Djokovic, and is 6-9 versus Nadal, but could have an opportunity to narrow that gap on Sunday if Nadal beats Medvedev in Saturday’s second semi-final.

After the match, Djokovic made no excuses and gave all credit to his opponent.

“What he did (coming back) from 0/4 (down) in the third-set tie-break was just unreal,” said the Serb, who turned 33 in May. “I mean, I don’t think I played bad. He just crushed the ball… he just took it away from me. But he deserved it, because he just went for it and everything worked. I have to put my hat down and say, Congratulations.”

The salute was a sincere one—Thiem is one of the most popular players in the locker room. No one wants to lose, but when opponents stroll to the net after a beating from him, they often appear genuinely happy for him, as Novak did today.

The walk of defeat to the net has been happening seemingly more and more for the Austrian’s opponents each year. He led the ATP Tour with 211 wins from 2016-9 but before 2019 Thiem was 15-32 against the Top 10. Since 2019, he’s 17-8 against the Top 10.

Thiem turned 27 in September. In baseball, hitters are said to reach their peak batting prowess at that age. The Big Three, however, all had their finest seasons (Federer- 2004, Nadal- 2010, Djokovic- 2011) earlier, around ages 23-24. In Thiem’s case, his breakout has been slower less because he’s a late bloomer than the simple fact that he’s had tennis’ three kings in his way.

The filmmaker Luis Bunuel once said, “age doesn’t matter unless you’re a cheese”. But surely the fact that Thiem is six years younger than Novak, seven younger than Nadal and 12 years Federer’s junior bodes well for him potentially having a winning record against all three musketeers in due time. Last year, he beat Federer, Djokovic, and Alexander Zverev en route to the Nitto ATP Finals title match. This year, his victims include Nadal and Djokovic, and he might have one more crack at Rafa tomorrow. The times, as Bob Dylan once crooned, are a changin’.

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You Won't Guess Thiem's Secret Weapon Against Djokovic…

Dominic Thiem is known for his overwhelming power from the baseline. But one shot that proved critical in his semi-final victory against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic at the Nitto ATP Finals on Saturday was his backhand slice.

“If it wouldn’t be there, I think a big part of my game would be missing,” Thiem said.

Djokovic had this year’s US Open champion in deep trouble in the final-set tie-break, but the backhand slice helped the Austrian dig out of that hole. From 4/0 down, Thiem hit at least one backhand slice in the next four rallies (that did not result in an ace) to gain a 6/4 advantage.

“It’s definitely [one of the] most important shots in my game. I love to use the slice… on all surfaces, actually. But here the bounce is pretty low. It’s a fast surface, so it’s a great, great option, especially to get from a defensive position into a neutral position again,” Thiem said. “It helped me out great today.“

View ATP Infosys Second Screen

In some cases, Thiem used his backhand slice as a tactical tool before unleashing his massive forehand. It was as if he was putting the nail into place with his slice before using his hammer to finish the job. At 1/4 and 5/4, the third seed neutralised Djokovic’s attack with a backhand slice before later uncorking a winner.

At 2/4, four of Thiem’s nine shots in the rally were backhand slices. The last of those shots was a short slice, forcing Djokovic to awkwardly attempt to approach the net with his own backhand slice, which went into the net.

The slice Thiem seemed happiest with came at 3/4. Djokovic pushed him back with a deep return. After fending that off with a defensive forehand, Thiem turned the tide in the point with a nasty backhand slice down the line, which tailed away from Djokovic’s forehand. The top seed was barely able to get to the ball and he missed a backhand later in the rally.

“I think it was 3/4, one time [I hit an] amazing slice… a great one down the line, which is such an important shot in my game,” Thiem said. “I think I improved it and I practised it a lot.”

Djokovic certainly noticed Thiem’s backhand slice.

“What he did from 0/4 in the third-set tie-break was just unreal. I mean, I don’t think I played bad,” Djokovic said. “He just crushed the ball. Everything went in from both corners, and he played couple of very short slices, angles.”

All eyes are always on Thiem’s incredible power, and rightfully so. The 27-year-old crushed winners in key moments Saturday. But 26 per cent of Thiem’s groundstrokes were slices compared to only nine per cent for Djokovic, and that played a role, too.

– Slice statistics courtesy of Hawkeye

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ATP Finals: Dominic Thiem fights past Novak Djokovic to reach final – best shots

Watch the best shots as Austrian Dominic Thiem beats world number one Novak Djokovic in three sets to reach the final of the ATP Finals.

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ATP Finals 2020: Dominic Thiem beats Novak Djokovic to reach London final

Dominic Thiem fights his way past world number one Novak Djokovic to book a place in the title decider at the ATP Finals in London.

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