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
WWW?
Rublev in 2….but kudos to Thiem for advancing!
Rublev 64 ret
Wow rubles in utter control then donates serve with consecutive ues…
Thiem purposely played so bad to avoid topping the group to avoid Novak..it’s so obvious isnt it
Thiem tops the group regardless of what happens tonight!
No ..who said that ..
The British commentators all.said that! Head to head is a factor and he beat both Rafa and Stefanos..
Ricky ..what permutation will Rafa top the group
If rafa tops the group..novak will come out charged to beat zverev to have a shot at beating Rafa
By losing tonight. Thiem can’t end no 2 if he wins it all right ?
Yes!
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 ?
Thiem will top the group.
The final standings of each group is determined by H2H if two players have the same number of wins.
https://www.nittoatpfinals.com/en/event/rules-and-format
I just said that! Sanju doesn’t seem to believe me…
Ricky had said sets 2 days back .I had asked the qn . I am happy if Thiem tops 🙂 though if rafa beats tsitsi..Medvedev will be handful too
Sanju AT 12:16 PM;
The highest percentage of sets won is used if THREE players have the same number of wins.
Sorry amy .:-)
Pray for rafa tonight
I will sanju!🙏🙏🙏🙏
Hope he doesn’t lose any more tbs!
Rafa wins the first set 6-4!
You can do this Rafa!