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Patna : World No 4 Daniil Medvedev, 24, Russia, ouslugged World No 2 Rafael Nadal, 34, Spain, in a three-set thriller in the second semi-final on November 21, 2020, late night, to reach the final of season finale Nitto ATP Finals for the first time.
Medvedev beat Nadal 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 in 2hr 36 minutes at O2 Arena, London, UK, to set up a final against reigning US Open champion and World No 2 Dominic Thiem, 27, Austria, on November 22, 2020, at 11. 30 pm. Thiem had defeated World No 1 and five-time champion Novak Djokovic in the first semi-final on November 21, 2020. Nadal said that Medvedev played some good point while he made few mistakes.
Medvedev won 4 break points in the match to 3 by Nadal. The Russian, in all, won 105 points in the match to 94 by the Spainiard. Bothe players committed 3 double faults each. But, Medvedev bombed 13 Aces in the match to just 3 by Nadal. Both the players won 4 games each in ta row in he match. Medvedev’s winning percentage both on his first and second serve ( 77% & 55%0 was a little better than that of Nadal’s ( 74% & 40%). Nadal had defeated Medvedev in Group Stage in 2019 Nitto ATP Finals. Nadal had also lost to Dominic Thiem in a Group Stage of the tournament on November 17, 2020.
The Spainiard still leads Medvedev 3-1 Head to Head. Nadal, who has won record equalling 20 Grand Slam singles titles, is yet to win ATP Finals title.