It will be a virtual quarterfinal contest at the Nitto ATP Finals when Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas wrap up round-robin competition in Group B on Thursday night. The winner advances to the semis, while the loser is out.
Both players are 1-1 through two matches, while Dominic Thiem has already clinched the Group-B win at 2-0 and Andrey Rublev has been eliminated at 0-2. Nadal opened with a 6-3, 6-4 rout of Rublev before losing to Thiem 7-6(7), 7-6(4) in an incredibly high-quality contest on Tuesday. Tsitsipas has not been as impressive, falling to Thiem 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 and then outlasting Rublev 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(6). The Russian had a match point in the third-set tiebreaker only to double-fault.
Although Tsitsipas is the defending champion in London, he is not quite looking like the same player who was on display at the end of 2019. The sixth-ranked Greek went into this week coming off a second-round loss in Vienna (to Grigor Dimitrov) and in his opening match at the Paris Masters (to Ugo Humbert).
Even when Tstsipas was at his best last fall and went on to lift the trophy inside the O2 Arena, he still lost to Nadal during round-robin action via a 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5 decision. That gave the second-ranked Spaniard a commanding 5-1 lead in the head-to-head series, which is where it currently stands because they have not faced each other this year. Nadal is 3-0 lifetime against Tsitsipas on hard courts.
If the 34-year-old plays anywhere close to his level against Thiem, it should be enough to once again break down the Tsitsipas backhand and send him through to the semis.
Pick: Nadal in 2
WWW?
Hate to say it, but Tpas in 3.
Scoot never calls it for rafa!
He even called against him at rg…!
Amy says Ricky always goes against Joker, and Scoot always goes against Nadal. Like why don’t you ever pick instead of accusing others of being biased? Lol
Well I hate to say it, but I think Rafa is going to get the win!
Vamos Rafa!
Tsitsipas must close in straight to stand any chance against Nadal … https://www.138mph.com/nadal-plays-tsitsipas-for-a-semifinal-berth-in-london/
Stay focused, remain confident, be strong and fight bravely, Rafa!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EnM4z_OWEAIjjDq?format=jpg&name=medium
I only have live scores. I just saw that Rafa served his first double fault to.lose the second set!😠😠
Rafa broke first game!😀😀
Come on Rafa hold now!
Tsitsipas, like Theim just wouldn’t go away and Nadal probably guilty of some degree of complacency. Indoors, no sunshine, no crowd and being a non-grand slam or significant masters event makes him a risky proposition.
So he broke back! Ffs! Come on rafa!
Ok Rafa breaks again!
Now serve super well and hold!
Rafa – HOLD YOUR SERVE!
Please serve it out rafa!
The Tsitsi test should be passed now! Onto meddy!
Come on Rafa! Break!
Yes! Rafa will serve fir the match!
Vamos Rafa!
Has Rafa won??
Live scores is stuck!😠😠
Vamos Rafa!
This was supposed to be over in two! Rafa played almost perfectly the second set! A small mental lapse and the set was gone! Good that he was able to regain focus and win in style! Bravo Rafa! Back to semis again!
Vamos Champ!
Vamos rafa!!😀😀
Finally live scores has unstuck!
Congrats rafa
This won’t cut against meddy though..there were 6 breaks of serve end of second to start of third..both breaking each other
Meddy is now on fire ..what you guys think ?
Lol, I think I’m glad he’s not playing Djoker….yet. Vamos Rafa! The next matches will not be easy, but that’s why they get the big bux! I just hope Rafa beats Meddy and Thiem beats Djoker and Rafa gets revenge! (OK, OK, Rafa does not do “revenge”…but I do! 🙂
(And screw Tennis Channel *and* ESPN! What do they mean, suddenly gifting this match to ESPN with no warning! Luckily I turned on my tv just in time to discover that I’d recorded TC junk while the match had been on ESPN2! However I was in time to find the immediate repeat on TC but I’m probably stuck with the TC commentary. However they’ve been better lately and RAFA WON, so what do I care?)
Rafa has a tough assignment going up against Meddy. But I am happy he made it to the semis! I think Rafa will be ready. He knows what to expect. He looked so happy when the match was over and he was through to the semis! Rafa will do his best as always.
No matter what happens, I am glad that Rafa decided to play in these tournaments.