THE Nitto ATP Finals began overnight, with the top eight players on the ATP Tour gearing up for an exciting week to close out the Tour for 2020.

Dominic Thiem defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 4-6 6-3

It was a close encounter between Austrian Dominic Thiem and Greek talent Stefanos Tsitsipas, with the third and sixth seed almost inseparable during their opening match of the ATP Finals. Thiem came away with the three-set win in two hours and 17 minutes – flipping the result from their 2019 final here where Tsitsipas reigned supreme – and piled on the pressure after a frustrating second set to take out the victory.

Tsitsipas was relentless and matched Thiem’s intensity, coming away with one less ace (9-8) and a 70 per cent serve rate to Thiem’s 73 per cent efficiency. Thiem played one more service game, winning eight more first serve points (59 of 76) than Tsitsipas but rating at the same 77 per cent effectiveness.

“I experienced in the past four years how important it is to have a good start in this tournament, to ideally win the first match. I am very happy that I did it,” Thiem said post-match.

The tight match was characterised by the 51 per cent total points win rate of Thiem compared to Tsitsipas’ 48 per cent, just pipped at the post in the final set after fighting for the comeback.

”He dealt with my serve better and took time to step back and apply more pressure to me [on] some of the second serves that I had early in the third set. I think that paid off for him,” Tsitsipas said.

Rafael Nadal defeated Andrey Rublev 6-3 6-4

In the evening encounter between Rafael Nadal and Andrey Rublev, it was the former who got the chocolates in straight sets in just one hour and 18 minutes. While Rublev’s form of late has been excellent, he was outclassed by Nadal from the get-go, lacking the experience and uncharacteristically error-ridden.

The clay-court specialist rarely faltered in the encounter, making a statement against the hard-hitting Russian who slammed home nine aces to Nadal’s two, winning 82 per cent of his first serve points off a 72 per cent efficiency. Nadal was also far more consistent on his second serve, winning 10 of 15 points to Rublev’s nine of 22.

“It’s important to start well, of course, for the confidence, because winning [in] straight sets helps,” Nadal said. “The serve tonight was very important. “I played solidly with my serve. “I didn’t suffer much, and that helps [me] to play more relaxed on the return. “That’s what I did.”

While Rublev matched Nadal’s intensity on-serve for the most part, it was his lower efficiency on the return that allowed the Spaniard to not just gain the upper hand but also maintain it throughout. While Rublev improved against the world number two as the match improved, it was too late in the duo’s second encounter with Nadal getting the win.

“I was not serving good at all because I was a little bit nervous, which is normal,” Rublev said. “When he broke me in the second set I relaxed and I started to serve much better. “Then [it] was [a] different game, but it was too late.”