Nitto ATP Finals round-robin preview and prediction: Thiem vs. Rublev

Andrey Rublev
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Dominic Thiem will find himself in a familiar situation when he faces Andrey Rublev during Group B round-robin action at the Nitto ATP Finals on Thursday afternoon.

Last year in London, Thiem won his first two matches against none other than Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Having already clinched the group win, the Austrian lost a relatively meaningless match to Matteo Berrettini in straight sets. The story is the same so far this week, as Thiem has already wrapped up Group B thanks to victories over Stefanos Tsitsipas and Rafael Nadal. Like Berrettini in 2019, Rublev (0-2) is already out–so it will basically be another dead rubber even though prize money and ranking points are on the line.

Rublev should have plenty of motivation, just as Berrettini did last fall. The eighth-ranked Russian is still looking for his first-ever win at this prestigious event, as this is his debut appearance. He came incredibly close on Tuesday against Tsitsipas, even holding a match point on his own serve only to double-fault at 6-5 in the third-set tiebreaker and eventually succumb 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(6).

Still, it was a big improvement for Rublev after getting blown out by Nadal in his opening match. With two outings under his belt, the 23-year-old should now look more like the player who leads the ATP Tour with five titles in 2020. Since tennis returned from the coronavirus hiatus, he has triumphed in Hamburg, St. Petersburg, and Vienna while also reaching a pair of Grand Slam quarterfinals.

Rublev will also take additional confidence from the fact that he has won two in a row against Thiem to level the head-to-head series at 2-2. Unless the world No. 3 is unexpectedly more motivated than he was in this same situation last year, this should be a great opportunity for Rublev.

Pick: Rublev in 2

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20 Comments on Nitto ATP Finals round-robin preview and prediction: Thiem vs. Rublev

  1. I read it’s not certain thiem tops group. Based on how badly he loses to rublev n how easily rafa beats tsitsi,the group topper will be determined

    Can Ricky confirm ?

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