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Rafael Nadal: “I think I played a good match today” As He Edges Tsitsipas

Rafael Nadal US Open
London–

World no. 1 Rafael Nadal defeated world no. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2 hours and 52 minutes in three thrilling sets 6-7 6-4 7-5 to give the Spaniard a chance of advancing to the semifinals. It was a must-win match for the Spaniard as a defeat would result in immediate elimination from the round-robin stage.

Nadal, 33, will now await the Zverev-Medvedev match to see if he can play the semifinals. If the German wins, Nadal will be out of the tournament.

“I’m not sure if I going to watch the match or not. I don’t know. The only thing that is sure is I have to be ready for anything, so I think I did my work and I did it well. Happy for the victory. Then now I have to wait,” said Nadal.

In the indoor O2 Arena, it was a mostly pro-Nadal crowd. But the Greek supporters let their voices be heard throughout the match as they cheered loudly on Tsitsipas every point he won. But the crowd, in the next match, will surely be cheering on Medvedev to win. Not only because Nadal, who is a fan favorite, could play again. But also a Federer-Nadal semifinal will be on the cards if the Russian manages to clinch a victory here.

“He [Federer] plays so well. He plays so fast. So I need to play a perfect match tomorrow if I want to have any chance to be in that final. I think I am playing better. But is true that Roger yesterday played unbelievable. So he will come to that match with plenty of confidence. So let’s see. I hope to be ready to compete at the highest level possible if that’s the case,” said Nadal about the possible match up against the Swiss.

After the end of the match, Rafael Nadal was presented with the ATP year-end no.1 trophy after securing it last night. The Spaniard secured this accolade for the fifth time in his career after Roger Federer defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets on Thursday. The Serb needed to beat the Swiss and reach the final of the tournament to have any chance of being back-to-back year-end no.1 after holding the position of year-end no.1 last year.

“I think this trophy is the work of the whole year… I think we did a lot of things well during the whole year. Of course, the team and the family played a very important role this year. Even more than other times because have been some tough moments at the beginning of the season in terms of physical issues that demoralize me a little bit.”

“So they played a very important role, so I can’t thank all of them enough for all the support.”

Main Photo from Getty.

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