ABU DHABI, December 20, 2019
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Rafael Nadal will compete in Saturday’s final of the 2019 Mubadala World Tennis Championship. In front of a packed stadium at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi, Tsitsipas came from a set down to beat defending champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia 4-6, 7-6(4) on Friday afternoon.
An incredible match, and an incredible win! Congratulations to @StefTsitsipas 🇬🇷 See you tomorrow for the final #MWTC pic.twitter.com/Zkm2LRoJy2
— MWTC (@MubadalaWTC) December 20, 2019
“The start of the match wasn’t my best, I found myself 5-1 down. I got a bit angry with myself. I didn’t show it, I just told myself I was better and I just loosened up,” said Tsitsipas.
“It’s was good to have such a battle. We both played high-quality tennis. I’m glad that I played a lot with my brain today.
“The crowd were a lot of fun. I was thinking at one point how much energy they were bringing out on to the court. They make a whole lot of difference and it makes it more exciting to play.”
Nadal dominates Khachanov
Later in the evening, Nadal dominated the encounter against Karen Khachanov from Russia, winning 6-1, 6-3. The Spaniard is bidding for his fifth Mubadala World Championship title.
“I played a good level of tennis tonight, better than what I thought,” Nadal said. “I was playing well at the end of the season, which was just 15 days ago when I was winning the Davis Cup.
“[The break] went quick. On one side it could be negative that we didn’t have a lot of time [to rest] but on the other hand, I finished the season playing well which helps me to keep going.”
Earlier in the day, Russia’s Andrey Rublev secured fifth place with a hard-fought 7-6, 7-6 victory over South Korea’s Hyeon Chung.
