Daniil Medvedev ended a chaotic 2020 season on a high by beating Dominic Thiem in the final of the ATP Finals – to claim the biggest title of his career so far.
Medvedev came from a set down to defeat Thiem 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 in two hours and 43 minutes – as he maintained his unbeaten run throughout the season-ending tournament.
The Russian beat the top three players in the world (in Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Thiem) en-route to winning the last ATP Finals that will be held at the O2 Arena in London – emulating his Russian compatriot Nikolay Davydenko who won the first tournament held in the English capital in 2009.
During the trophy presentation, Medvedev – who will finish the year fourth in the world rankings – expressed his joy at following in the footsteps of his idol.
‘I always said before this tournament that it would be an amazing story if, here in London, where the tournament has been held for 12 years, that the first champion and last champion would be Russian,’ he said
‘A lot of thanks to Nikolay Davydenko for being an inspiration for many kids [like] me. I hope to continue doing his job.’
Similar to his semi-final win against Nadal, Medvedev started brightest – forcing Thiem to save two break points in his opening service game.
However, the pattern of his semi-final carried on with Thiem surprisingly breaking the Russian midway through the first set.
The Austrian, and world No 3, was made to work for each of his service games that followed in the set, but managed to hold firm to take a one-set lead.
The US Open champion grew in confidence – having taken the advantage in the match and looked to kill off the game – however, spurned four break points in the second set that would’ve given him an unassailable lead.
The second set was decided via a tiebreak, where Medvedev won seven consecutive points with aggressive hitting off both wings to bring the game level.
The 24-year-old had to save three break points early in the deciding set, showing his great defence that has brought him to the elite level.
Yet, it was his aggressive play that proved decisive in him winning the title as he raced into the net to put away a volley off of a backhand slice from Thiem, which gave him the crucial break of serve.
The World No.4 was close to perfection from his first serve in the last set, losing only two points from it, on his way to closing the match out.
Following a promising year, Medvedev will look to kick on next season to seriously challenge the ‘Big Three’ (Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer) and win his first Grand Slam title.
By Sajidur Rahman
