LAST year’s ATP Finalists in Stefanos Tsitsipas and Dominic Thiem have set up tantalising final round robin matches after the pair secured wins in their second matches of the London 2020 group. Thiem needed two epic tiebreakers to shake off second seed Rafael Nadal in straight sets, while Tsitsipas survived an almighty scare from Andrey Rublev to win in three sets and keep his hopes of back-to-back ATP Finals alive.

As it stands, Thiem is the only undefeated player in the London group, and given his wins over Nadal and Tsitsipas, he is through to the semi-finals. Whilst the Austrian takes on Rublev in the final round, the only players who can equal his total wins are the two he defeated, meaning even a loss to the Russian would not rob him of a semi-finals place. On the other side of the coin, the Nadal-Tsitsipas result decides the second semi-final spot. Both players have defeated Rublev, and both have lost to Thiem, meaning one will advance to 2-1 win-loss ratio, while the other will sink to 1-2 and be eliminated alongside Rublev.

Dominic Thiem (AUT) defeated Rafael Nadal (ESP) 7-6 7-6

Thiem booked his semi-finals spot with a massive 7-6 7-6 victory over the top seed in the group, Nadal. The match lasted two hours and 26 minutes, with the Austrian winning 9-7 in the first set tiebreaker, and 7-4 in the second set tiebreaker. Neither player was willing to give in, with just two breaks for the entire match and Nadal defending well given he had to face five break point opportunities compared to Thiem’s two. Thiem served six aces to Nadal’s two, and won 76 per cent of his first serve points to the Spaniard’s 69 per cent. It was far from an easy match, but Thiem got there in the end and doubled up on his Australian Open win over his clay court Roland Garros nemesis.

“Indoors and [on] hard courts, it was probably one of the better matches I have ever played,” Thiem said post-match. “It came very close to last year’s match against Novak here. [That was] also [a] second group match, which is probably the best three-setter I have ever played. “Today came very close to that match and now the goal is to enjoy this victory and to maintain that level until Thursday.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) defeated Andrey Rublev (RUS) 6-1 4-6 7-6

In one of the stranger ATP Finals matches, Tsitsipas kept his hopes of back-to-back titles alive with a three-set win over fellow up-and-comer Rublev. Tsitsipas needed to halt a Rublev comeback – which included facing a match point – to get up 6-1 4-6 7-6 in a thrilling contest. It was fair to say the match had its ebbs and flows with Tsitsipas certainly in control at 6-1 4-4, but a crucial break from Rublev levelled the match at a set apiece. Fast forward to the final set and again Tsitsipas looked on track to close it out in a comfortable tiebreaker at 5-2, before the Russian hit back with four consecutive points to grab a match point at 6-5. Tsitsipas held his nerve to win the next three points and win the deciding tiebreak 8-6 to book his spot in the next round.

Tsitsipas served 10 aces without a double fault compared to Rublev’s six and two respectively. After breaking his opponent twice in the first set, the Greek talent could not seem to do it again despite nine break point opportunities throughout the match. Rublev equally struggled, with only that second set break the difference in his sole break point opportunity. Overall both players served strongly with 81 and 75 per cent success off their first serve, and Tsitsipas being the more efficient server thanks to a 69 to 62 per cent clip. Winning 12 more points for the entire match, Tsitsipas earned the victory and will now face Nadal for a spot in the semi-finals.

Picture: Ella Ling/ATP Tour