ATP Finals: 6th match point is in place - Dominic Thiem after drama victory over Djokovic in the final!
As in the previous year, Dominic Thiem reached the final of the ATP Finals in London. He beat world number one Novak Djokovic in a strange but exciting match with 7: 5, 6: 7 (10) and 7: 6 (5). Here you can read the match in the ticker!
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Nov 21, 2020, 06:35 pm
There were two interesting statistics that you got before the start of the match: Novak Djokovic led in a direct comparison on hard court with 4: 1 against Dominic Thiem - but he was ahead in 4 of the last 6 games.
In the semifinals of the ATP Finals 2020, Thiem initially had to fight more, especially in the 2: 3 with a 0:30 after two slight mistakes, but he freed himself thanks to a strong backhand and good serves. Djokovic was in no way inferior, he too had to unpack strong serves at the following 0:30. At 5: 5, Thiem struck: Djokovic came online three times, three times without success - in the end Thiem was there with sensitivity in the sense of a short slice, which Djokovic laid. He then served confidently. Conclusion: A mixed first set with a more offensive, fast-paced Thiem, who landed with 14 winners and 14 mistakes without necessity, with Djokovic the balance was 5: 6. Noticeable, however: Djokovic almost consistently served the second service unusually slowly ...
Djokovic with frustration
Even in set two, Thiem came to the first breakball at 2-2, which he missed unnecessarily with a forehand shot - and was very annoyed. How pissed off Djokovic was about his performance, you got to see after the following point: He shot a return Thiems that was too long on the (luckily empty) ranks of the o2 arena. However, the world number one could not use his first break chance at 3: 4. It got tricky for Thiem at 5: 6 and 15:40, equivalent to two set balls for Djokovic. But Thiem could rely on his serve.
Dramatic tiebreak in sentence two
In the tie-break, Thiem got the early mini-break, Djokovic but got four points in a row, Thiem came by force to the connection. Djokovic fended off a first match ball for the Austrian with a service winner. Match point two, shortly afterwards, this time on your own serve? Awarded Thiem via double fault. Then: Long return Djokovic, but he missed the set ball at his own service - 8: 8. This was followed by a 84 km / h throw-in on the second serve, Thiem used this with a controlled offensive, but missed match point three with a forehand error.
Thiem then came to the fourth match point, but Djokovic, on his own serve, put a forehand exactly on the line. And got himself set ball number four, where Thiem put a backhand into the net.
Thiem: It's match point number 6 then
Little exciting then at the beginning of set three, both players without problems when serving; only Djokovic had to start at 4: 3 after two reckless mistakes - the serve helped him out of trouble. Overall, Djokovic now returned significantly better, all the more annoying a return that was too long at 5: 5 and 30:30, according to the original scream that the 33-year-old let go.
Ultimately, the tie-break had to decide again, which Thiem started with a double fault, and a forehand flew far out to make it 0: 4. But the Lichtenwörther did not give up, remained patient and made it 4: 4, via ace to 5: 4 and with a crazy backhand cross to 6: 4. He finally used his sixth match point to win.
“It was also a mental victory, I was so tense in the tie-break of the second set. Playing against legends like this is always special. Also here for the final. I thought I would be a little more relaxed after my victory in New York, but that's not the case, ”said Thiem afterwards.
Thiem's final opponent will be determined from 9 p.m. CET between Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev.
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