Rafael Nadal put on an impressive display in the first of his round-robin matches at this year’s Nitto ATP Finals to notch a win over Russian phenom Andrey Rublev on Sunday.
Rafael Nadal made short work of Andrey Rublev in London on Sunday evening with a 6-3, 6-4 win. The straight-set victory puts Nadal in good position make his way into the semifinals at the end of the week, as the fewest sets dropped is often used in the calculations to determine the semifinal participants.
Nadal was solid throughout the match. The Spaniard never faced a break point and he snagged a break early in each set. He was particularly lethal on the return, winning 59 percent of the points on Rublev’s second serve.
Asked about the importance of winning against a player of Rublev’s caliber, Nadal said, “Happy the way I approached the match. Always first
match is difficult, and Andrey played an amazing season.He’s a great guy, too, so I wish him all the very best.”
Nadal will take on his 2020 Australian Open vanquisher, Dominic Thiem, in his next round robin match. Thiem prevailed over Stefanos Tsitsipas in three earlier on Sunday in what was a rematch of the 2019 final.
Great serving performance by Rafa. Thiem needs to up his level if he wants to have a shot of getting the W on Tuesday