Nadal battles past Tsitsipas to reach semi-finals at ATP Finals

London, Nov. 20 (IANS): World number two Rafael Nadal has entered the semi-finals of the ongoing ATP Finals after defeating defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas.

On Thursday, Nadal defeated Tsitsipas 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in two hours and five minutes to make it to his sixth semi-final appearance at the event and continued his pursuit of a maiden title at the year-end championships. The Spaniard tallied a 2-1 record to claim second place in Group London 2020 behind Dominic Thiem.

He will next play Daniil Medvedev in a rematch of the 2019 US Open final.

“(To) be in the semi-finals here, in the last tournament of the year, is an important thing,” Nadal said in his on-court interview as per the official ATP Tour website. “(I am) happy for that and I am looking forward to the semi-finals against Daniil (Medvedev).”

Last year, Nadal had defeated Tsitsipas in the final round-robin match, but the lefty was still ousted from the tournament. This time, he only needed a win to move on, and despite a slip at the end of the second set, he emerged victorious to extend his head to head lead against the Greek to 6-1.

“I still won two matches like last year,” Nadal said. “Last year, I was a little bit unlucky not to be in the semi-finals. The year before I had to pull out. It is always difficult to play here against the best players in the world every single day (at the) end of the season. Most of the time, you get here a little bit tired, but this year is a little bit different…I am just excited to be in the semi-finals and I hope to be ready to try my best,” he added.