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reSpanish tennis superstar Rafael Nadal lost 6: 7 (7: 9), 6: 7 (4: 7) in a high-class match against Austrian Dominic Thiem in the ATP Finals. After his first win over Andrej Rublew (Russia), Nadal must now absolutely win in the final preliminary round match against defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) on Thursday to remain in the top eight tournament. US Open champion and last year’s finalist, Thiem, has the best chance of reaching the knockout round in the “London 2020” group. The two best players in each group advance.
Record Grand Slam champion Nadal has already racked up 86 tournament wins, but never won the ATP indoor finals; Anyway, he can only boast two wins in indoor tournaments. “The conditions in the hall have not been ideal for my game since the beginning of my career,” Nadal had said before the start of the tournament at the London O2 Arena.
In the preliminary round group “Tokyo” 1970, the best German player Alexander Zverev is already under pressure before his second match. Hamburg, who won the top eight tournament of the year in 2018, prepared against Argentine Diego Schwartzman before the premature final on Wednesday (from 15:00 CET / All Sky). Zverev had already lost his first match against Daniil Medvedev (Russia).
“It is a completely normal tournament for me now. If I don’t win, I’ll go home, “Zverev said after the two-set loss to Medvedev, but he was sure:” If I play like this, I won’t win a single match here. “If I won against Schwartzman, I would be on Friday. final in the preliminary group against world number one Novak Djokovic (Serbia).
French Open winners Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies are back in business. Coburg Krawietz and Cologne Mies showed a strong reaction after their initial defeat at the season finale in London in the preliminary second round match, via the well deserved 6: 2, 7: 6 (7: 5) against the Former Wimbledon winners Lukasz Kubot / Marcelo Melo (Poland / Brazil) kept their dream of the semi-finals alive.
“It was great to win in two sets,” Mies said visibly relaxed: “I didn’t play my best tennis two days ago, it was important for me to come back strong. I am very proud of us for having played a great game and for having recovered. “
After the renewed title at Roland Garros, the duo wanted to “take the Parisian tailwind with them and play for the win,” as Mies had previously told Focus magazine, before the group’s final match against the Australian Open winners. Rajeev Ram / Joe Salisbury (America / Great Britain) are now picking up speed. A German double had never reached the semifinals in the prestigious season finale of the top eight of the year, last year Krawietz (28) and Mies (30) had to pack their bags after the preliminary round.