Dominic Thiem holds his nerve in TWO tie-breaks to beat Rafael Nadal in straight sets to put one foot in last four of the Nitto ATP Finals
- Rafael Nadal endured a disappointing straight sets defeat to Dominic Thiem
- Thiem held his nerve in two tie-breaks at the O2 Arena to go on and win 7-6, 7-6
- Nadal beat Rublev but defeat to Thiem leaves his semi-final place in doubt
Rafael Nadal was brought back down to earth with a bump on Tuesday as he was beaten at the ATP Finals by Dominic Thiem, who now has one foot in the semi-finals.
The world No 2 has enjoyed numerous battles with Thiem in recent years, typically on clay, but here on the hardcourt of London‘s O2 Arena it was Austrian Thiem who took victory 7-6, 7-6.
Nadal made a convincing start to his group, swatting aside Andrey Rublev, but Thiem, a Grand Slam winner, proved a much tougher nut to crack and it showed in the two tie-breaks.
More to follow.
