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Dominic Thiem has a chance for revenge at the ATP Finals in London. The Austrian tennis star will face defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in a new edition of last year’s final in the group stage. The other opponents in the “London 2020” group are French Open winner Rafael Nadal and newcomer Andrej Rublew of Russia. That was the result of the draw on Thursday night. The season finale will begin on Sunday.
Thiem had to double Tsitsipas 7: 6 (6), 2: 6.6: 7 (4) in the 2019 final after leading the set. His overall record against the Greeks is 4: 3 wins. Against Nadal, still awaiting his maiden ATP Finals triumph despite his 20 Grand Slam titles, the Lower Austrian has won five of the 14 matches. In the head-to-head with Rublew, whom Thiem sees as the secret favorite for the ATP Finals after five tournament wins in 2020, including at the Wiener Stadthalle, the score is 2: 2.
In the second group of four, “Tokyo 1970”, the world number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the Russian Daniil Medwedew, the German Alexander Zverev and the Argentine Diego Schwartzman, who qualified for the first time as Rublew, fight for both semifinals. The name of the group recalls the first edition of the final tournament 50 years ago. This season is the twelfth and, so far, the last time in London on stage. Starting in 2021, the eight best tennis players of the season in Turin will choose their annual winner.
Thiem arrived in the British capital on Wednesday evening, the day after he collected Austria’s “Sportsman of the Year” trophy for the first time at home. “The last goal in 2020, the memories of the previous year are good,” the 27-year-old said on his website. At the time, Thiem defeated Roger Federer and Djokovic, who was missing after two knee surgeries, in the group stage, and Zverev in the semi-finals, before barely reaching in a thriller against Tsitsipas.
“Only a few points decided between heaven and hell in the tennis world,” Thiem recalled of the match that took place in front of the spectators a year ago. This time, the season finale will also be a “ghost” tournament due to the coronavirus pandemic. Professionals are accompanied by strict hygiene standards. The total prize pool was reduced from $ 9 million the previous year to $ 5.7 million. For each victory in the preliminary round, $ 153,000 and 200 ATP points remain.
The final of the previous year was the last duel between Thiem and Tsitsipas, 22 years old. He has also had nothing to do with Nadal since his quarter-final victory at the Australian Open in January, before Corona’s break. Against Rublew, on the other hand, on the way to his Vienna title, the end came just two weeks ago.
Thiem suffered from sole foot problems in a straight-set loss in the quarter-finals of his home tournament. These should now be over. “In fact, I have been training very well the last few days,” said Lichtenwörther in an interview with Sky. He awaits his fifth consecutive participation in the final. “Of course it is a very special tournament. Last year was crazy. “
In addition to Nadal and Djokovic, the US Open winner considers Russians Medvedev (24) and Rublew (23) to be the favorites for the tournament victory. “Rublew is a very attractive candidate because he plays in top form most of the year,” Thiem said of his group opponent. “He’s even improved a lot since he came back from the ATP Tour.”
From: apa