Facing match point at 5-1 down in the third set, Rafael Nadal gave himself about a one-in-a-thousand chance of turning things around versus Daniil Medvedev at the ATP Finals.
Those odds turned out to be more than good enough for the top-ranked Spaniard.
Nadal saved that match point with a perfect drop shot and then rallied to defeat Medvedev 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (4) Wednesday, keeping alive his oportunity of advancing from the group stage.
“Today is one of those days that one out of 1,000 you win and it happened today,” Nadal said. ”In that moment (facing match point), what you think is probably in five minutes you are in the locker room, because that’s the more normal thing. In that moment, you play with not much pressure because you are almost lost.”
Nadal looked headed for a second straight defeat at the season-ending tournament but won five games in a row to go 6-5 up in the deciding set. In the tiebreaker, Medvedev missed a routine forehand to hand Nadal a match point and then sent a backhand just wide. That shot was initially called in but was overturned by Hawk-Eye after Nadal challenged the decision.
The victory gives Nadal a 1-1 record after two round-robin matches, while Medvedev fell to 0-2.
In the late match, Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated defending champion Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-2 for his second straight win, a result that guarantees him a spot in the semifinals.
The other three players all still have a chance of advancing.
Nadal’s preparations for the ATP Finals were hampered by an abdominal injury that forced him to pull out of the Paris Masters semifinals this month. But he insisted he feels fine physically, and is gradually finding his best game after an error-filled performance against Zverev.
”I have been playing a better level of tennis than the first day in general terms,” Nadal said. ”Then to win this match is a combination of a lot of things: luck, some mistakes of Daniil, some good moments by myself at the end.”
Nadal’s victory also strengthens his grip on the year-end No. 1 ranking, as it means Novak Djokovic has to conquer the tournament to have any chance of overtaking him. Djokovic first has to defeat Roger Federer on Thursday just to advance to the semifinals.
