STARNBERG, November 21, 2020
The showdown between two of the greatest tennis players Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, will not happen in the Nitto ATP Tour finals. These two unique talents were blocked from reaching the title match after Daniil Medvedev beat Nadal in the semifinals.
Nadal hasn’t acquired any title wins at the ATP Finals, and it seems like he’ll have to wait for another year after losing to Medvedev on Saturday in London. According to Medvedev, he changed some of the second set tactics, where he was 5-4 down to Djokovic. Medvedev’s plan worked well, allowing him to secure the crucial 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3 win.
The results on Saturday mean that Medvedev will play in the season finale for the first time. Medvedev will face Dominic Thiem, who beat Djokovic earlier on Saturday in the first titanic battle. Tennis punters can bet on the game with bet DC gambling that offers incredible bonuses in line with Washington’s sports betting regulations.
Before the clash between the two, Nadal had beaten Medvedev three times, including a three-set victory in the group stages in last year’s ATP Finals and two months earlier in the championship match of the US Open where Nadal won in five sets.
In his ATP Finals debut last year, Medvedev finished 0-3 from his group matches, but he ultimately turned the tables this year. He arrived when he had just won the ATP Masters 1000 event in Paris, which is an indoor hard-court tournament.
Before the encounter with Medvedev, Nadal overcame Andrey Rublev, who clinched a tour-leading fifth title at Vienna in October. He also beat the 2019 champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in a winner takes it all contest. That is after Nadal had lost to Thiem in two close sets.
The night was not a comfortable one for Nadal, who was yearning to win the ATP Finals for the first time. By midway through the first set, Nadal’s service was averaging at six minutes compared to Medvedev, taking roughly ninety seconds.
According to the look of things, the indoor hard court surface is the worst for Nadal. The Spaniard lost to Roger Federer back in 2010 in three sets and was beaten again on the same stage by Djokovic three years later. This year, he also suffered a loss to Medvedev on Saturday.
On the other hand, Thiem overcame Djokovic to reach the final. Thiem recovered from a 0-4 down in the tie break of the third set to beat the World No. 1 from Serbia. Addressing reporters, Djokovic said that what Thiem did in the tie-break was unbelievable. He just crashed the ball, and everything went in. Djokovic had won the title from the years 2012 to 2015.
