DANIIL MEDVEDEV did not travel an easy path to the biggest title of his career at the ATP Finals: He beat No. 3 Dominic Thiem in London for the championship after earlier getting past No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Rafael Nadal. By rallying for a 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 victory over Thiem, the U.S. Open champion, in Sunday’s final, Medvedev became the first player to defeat each of the men ranked 1-3 in the season-ending championship — and only the fourth to do so at any tour event since 1990. Medvedev was ranked fourth. “Means a lot,” said Medvedev, 24. “Shows what I’m capable of when I’m playing good, when I’m feeling good mentally, physically. So I know what I’m capable of.” The win against Thiem on an indoor hard court in an arena without spectators, who were barred because of the coronavirus pandemic, followed those against Djokovic in the round-robin portion of the tournament and Nadal in Saturday’s semifinals. Medvedev went 5-0 in all, quite a turnaround from a year ago, when he was 0-3 at the ATP Finals. The tournament now ends its 12-edition stay in London and heads to Turin, Italy, next year. After the win, Medvedev had nothing but praise for Thiem: “First of all, what a match. One, maybe, one of my best victories. I mean, 2 hours 42 minutes, three sets against an amazing player, Dominic. Congrats already for what you achieved in your career. I think your name is already in the history of tennis books. “So, it’s amazing, you won a Grand Slam this year. I mean, you’re playing unbelievable. I hope we’re gonna have many more matches to come on the big occasions like this, so congrats to you and your team. You’re doing an amazing job.” Coming into November, Medvedev had never beaten a top-10 player. The 24-year-old beat seven top-10 players this month alone, however. (SD-Agencies) |