Rafael Nadal v Stefanos Tsitsipas: ATP World Tour Finals – live! – The Guardian, Theguardian.com

Third set:Rafael Nadal6-7 (4) 6-4 3-3 * Stefanos Tsitsipas:Nadal digs out his first difficult hold of the match, recovering from 0 – 30 down with aplomb.

From 0 – 30 down, Nadal worked his way back into the game with a fizzling forehand down the line, then a great backhand to force a Tsitsipas error. At 30 – 30, with t he pressure resting heavily on his shoulders, Nadal crushed a forehand down the line and dispatched an easy volley behind it. He held with a sliding service winner out wide and a cry of “vamos”. Aggressive, fearless play from the Spaniard. This is heating up.

Third set:Rafael Nadal6-7 (4) 6-4 * 2-3 Stefanos Tsitsipas:A truly majestic hold form Tsitsipas. The clearest measuring stick for Nadal is his forehand down-the-line and it is finally starting to purr. After dominating all the opening rallies, at 15 – 30 Nadal connected with a brilliant forehand down the line and then swept to the net to finish off the point.

What did Tsitsipas do from 15 – 40 down? He hit an ace down the T, a brilliant drop volley winner, a huge forehand de-facto winner and then a big inside out forehand winner to hold. Gutsy as heck. The youngster keeps himself on serve and in the match.

Third set:Rafael Nadal6-7 (4) 6-4 * 1-2 Stefanos Tsitsipas:Tsitsipas holds again with some great serving, including an ace to bring up 40 – 15. When Nadal pegged him back to deuce, he found a good service winner and then he slipped in a serve and volley to hold.

The Greek needs to move to the net more and throw in more serve and volleys, as he did in the first set. Now is not the time for being tentative and cautious.

It has taken a while, but there was some evidence that Nadal is playing himself into form here in London.That was easily the best set of Nadal’s week so far. He is taking his return earlier and was stepping into the court, dominating the exchanges and moving forward. He is now 13 / 17 for net points won compared to Tsitsipas with 8 / 10.

Across the net, Tsitsipas has been far from horrible but under that sustained pressure from Nadal, he just crept into his shell. The Greek needs to get back to playing on the front foot and moving forward to the net. He also needs to return much better. After 23 games, Tsitsipas hasn’t even been close to generating a break point. That is pretty unacceptable for him.

We are going to three! There was little doubt from Nadal, who moved to 40 – 0 with an ace out wide . It took a couple of attempts, but he found a great wide slice serve on his third set point to seal a brilliant set. He will love his chances heading into the final set.

Second set:Rafael Nadal6-7 (4) 4-4 * Stefanos Tsitsipas:Nadal still looks really sharp right now. He is the player taking the rallies on and moving forward to the net.

After a nice improvised volley at 15 – 15, he forced a Tsitsipas backhand error with a heavy forehand and then held with an unreturned serve. Tsitsipas ’returning has been quite dire and he hasn’t been close to breaking Nadal today.

Second set:Rafael Nadal6-7 (4) * 3-4 Stefanos Tsitsipas:A truly sublime hold from Stefanos Tsitsipas. Nadal is piling on the pressure now, taking control of the points and returning well. He opened with an inch-perfect angled backhand passing shot, then a majestic forehand down the line to lead 0 – 30. After Tsitsipas pegged him back with some big serving, Nadal battled again to force a break point.

But from break point down, Tsitsipas found three big serves in succession to scupper the danger and keep his nose ahead. Can he keep Nadal at bay? Two games away.

Second set:Rafael Nadal6-7 (4) * 2-3 Stefanos Tsitsipas:A brilliant hold from Tsitsipas from double break point down! Nadal burst into the game with a brutal forehand down the line return winner at 15 – 0, then he crushed a forehand inside out winner after another amazing forehand return. A double fault from Tsitsipas brought up Nadal’s first break point.

How did the 21 year-old respond? From 15 – 40, he struck an incredible half-volley forehand winner that fizzed down the line, then he broke down the Nadal forehand with deep, penetrating backhands to save the second. Tsitsipas closed it out with great serve and volley. So aggressive and so gutsy.

Second set:Rafael Nadal6-7 (4) 2-2 * Stefanos Tsitsipas:Tsitsipas opened with a really nice backhand return as Nadal stormed into the net behind his first serve, but 0 – 15 is as close as the Greek got to a break point this time. With more brilliant serving from Nadal, he won 4 points in a row and closed with an ace out wide.

That was another strange set from Nadal.Once again, he served pretty well and he was extremely successful at the net, winning 8 of 10 net points. But his groundstrokes are still far too insecure and he can’t count on them under pressure: 4 unforced errors in the tiebreak and 15 overall. However, he’s clearly still in this.

Tsitsipas has been good but he will probably need to return better in set two.

Stefanos Tsitsipas slams down an ace down the T to take the first set! 5-0 in sets this week, no problem.

First set:Rafael Nadal6-6 Stefanos Tsitsipas:We’re heading to a tiebreak! It was Nadal who left his mark on the highlights reel there with a breathtaking down-the-line rocket of a forehand winner at 15 – 0, but another solid hold from Tsitsipas.

There were some tense exchanges, especially at 15 – 15 where Tsitsipas hesitated instead of moving forward before Nadal dumped a meek backhand into the net, but some big serving from the Greek to hold.

First set:Rafael Nadal* 5-5 Stefanos Tsitsipas:Plenty of scoreboard pressure for Tsitsipas at 4-5, but he responds by producing one of his best service games of the match so far. After some big serving, he crushes a squeaky clean forehand inside out winner to hold. That forehand was so good that it elicited a yell of appreciation of Nadal.

First set:Rafael Nadal4-3 * Stefanos Tsitsipas:Some more very good serving from Nadal, who holds to love quickly and easily.

One notable event in the previous game: Tsitsipas’s final ace in the was called out and then overruled by the chair umpire. Nadal checked the mark and happily gave it a thumbs up. Nadal didn’t challenge but hawk-eye showed the ball out by two millimetres in the TV studio. Hawk-eye’s margin of error is 3 millimetres – it’s far from perfect.

First set:Rafael Nadal* 3-3 Stefanos Tsitsipas:While Nadal is serving at 75% first serves with 92% of points won behind it, Tsitsipas did not serve well in the opening game. But he is now and he holds to love, closing with 2 aces in a row.

The joys of round robin tennis.

Stuart Fraser(@ stu_fraser)

Nadal will be knocked out of the ATP Finals if he loses to Tsitsipas this afternoon.

If Nadal wins, then he will knock out Daniil Medvedev but must hope that the Russian beats Zverev later. Nadal would then go through as group winner to play Federer tomorrow.

Erm … got it?

November 15, 2019

First set:Rafael Nadal* 1-1 Stefanos Tsitsipas:That was a good hold for Tsitsipas from deuce. The Greek led 40 – 15 before firing a couple of loose forehands, but he responded with a great serve and volley at deuce. He is already thinking fast.

We also saw one of the essential mini battles early on as Nadal attempted to break down the Tsitsipas backhand with his forehand at 30 – 15 and also at advantage Tsitsipas. Both times, the 21 year old stepped into the court and crushed his single-hander on the rise, forcing a forehand error. Very interesting.

The big Nadal quote after his great comeback to Daniil Medvedev.

Q. Is this a game that could be easily shown to young academies, like yours and any other in the world, and pass the message to the young guys that they should never quit, they should fight until the last point? Is it one of those games?

RAFAEL NADAL: No, examples are not for one day. Examples are every day. And in my opinion, the example is not the comeback, because the comeback is – of course you need to be there and you need to keep fighting, but the example, in my opinion, is not break a racquet when you are 5- 1 in the third or not be out of your self-control when the things are not going the right way.

Just staying positive, staying on court, accepting that the opponent is playing a little bit better than you and accepting that you are not that good. That’s the only example, no? Because sometimes the frustration comes when you believe and you consider yourself too good and you don’t accept the mistakes that you are doing.

So something that not happen to me very often, and I know I can have mistakes and I normally accept it. That’s the only thing.

(F) And f or me that’s the only example that I can try to tell the guys. Don’t consider themself too good. Accept the mistakes, because everybody have mistakes and you need to keep going after the mistakes. That’s the only way.

And here is video of Tsitsipas ’press conference in Australia, just to see how demoralized he was after the defeat.As he has improved and matured throughout the year, I think one of his greatest assets is that he has learnt to take both his defeats and victories slightly more calmly .

When he fell in the first round of the US Open, he was much more positive, and it set him up for a great final stretch. This season has been a massive learning curve for the Greek and it is impressive to see how well he is ending it.

We need to talk more about that Australian Open semi-final.Here are some quotes from Tsitsipas after losing 6-2 6-4 6-0 to Nadal:

I really can’t think of something positive on that match. Probably the second set, which was the one that I got closer to. The rest, it kind of felt like in a way it wasn’t tennis so much like the other matches that I played. It felt like a different dimension of tennis completely.

He gives you no rhythm. He plays just a different game style than the rest of the players. He has this, I don’t know, talent that no other player has. I’ve never seen a player have this. He makes you play bad. I don’t know. I would call that a talent.

—

I just couldn’t today. The angles that he was using, my brain was used to a certain rhythm of the game with all the righty players that I played this week. Him, it felt like I was always, when he was playing, on the wrong foot. Didn’t check properly. Felt very slow today. I feel pretty fast when I’m on the court. I mean, I’ve improved a lot in that part of my game. Today I felt like a 2-meter – 10 guy that can’t move on the court. That’s definitely not me. I don’t know.

Hello!Welcome to our coverage on day 6 of the ATP Finals in London, the final day of round robin group action, where all four players in Group Andre Agassi are still in with a chance of reaching the semi-finals. Stefanos Tsitsipas andRafael Nadalwill begin first, resuming one of the most interesting top 10 match-ups around. Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev will follow them in the evening.

Stefanos Tsitsipas had his first huge moment at the beginning of the year when he defeated Roger Federer at the Australian Open before reaching his first slam semi-final there. But in that semi-final, he was absolutely obliterated 6-2 6-4 6-0 by Nadal and the Greek left the court shattered. It marked a third consecutive defeat for Tsitsipas against Nadal and he began to wonder if he would ever be able to win.

Well, he did. In their very next meeting, on clay and in Madrid of all place, Tsitsipas finally registered his first win over Nadal. With that settled, the 21 year-old should come into the match full of confidence after a brilliant 6-3 6-2 win over Zverev two days ago. Despite being the youngest player in the event, he is the only player with a perfect record. These conditions clearly suit the Greek well as the fast, low bouncing courts aid his net game and should diminish the effect of Nadal’s heavy topspin forehand on his vulnerable single-handed backhand.

Across the net, Nadal produced an astonishing comeback against Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday, recovering from match point down and 1-5 in the third set. It was another reflection of his heart and mental stability as the Russian choked badly, but we should not mistake that mental triumph as a reflection of his level. The big question is whether he will use that victory to spur him onto new heights or if he will continue to struggle with his forehand, defense and serve. If he doesn’t improve, he will lose today. This much is clear. Let’s see what the Spaniard has to offer.