Spanish number two seed, Rafael Nadal, has reached the semi-final at the ATP Finals in London after dispatching defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in three sets.
The 34-year-old dominated the first set and looked set for a straight-set victory but Tsitsipas made him dig deep after taking the second set, but Nadal fought back to clinch the decider in the third set, with the match ending 6-4 4-6 6-2.
The Mallorca native, who hit 32 winners and made just 13 unforced errors against this Greek opponent will face Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in Saturday’s semi-final at the O2 Arena in London.
Watch the match highlights below
Medvedev is already officially declared winner of Group Tokyo 1970 with Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev scrambling for the final place in the final four on Friday.
“I was playing, I think, a great level of tennis for almost two sets,” said Nadal.
“The score was close, but in terms of feeling I felt that I was playing better than him. Then the situation changed. He won that game and then I was starting to suffer a little bit more with my serve.
“But it’s always a good feeling when you are playing well and you’re playing against the best players of the world. You know you’re going to be in a tough fight. That’s what happened tonight. I was able to find a way to win. Very happy.”
Also, earlier on Thursday, Dominic Thiem, having already secured his spot in the semis, lost in straight sets in a dead rubber game which ended 6-2 7-5 in favor of the already disqualified Andrey Rublev.
Dominic Thiem had already clinched his spot in the final four after defeating Nadal and Tsitsipas to emerge winner of Group London 2020.
Nadal’s semi-final opponent Medvedev faces Argentine Diego Schwartzman in a dead rubber on Friday.
The 20-time Grand Slam winner Nadal is yet to win the ATP Finals despite a blistering career, but he is in with a real chance this year having lost on both of the previous occasions (2010 & 2013) in which he reached the final.
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