Facing match point at 5-1 down in the third set, Rafael Nadal gave himself about a one-in-a-thousand chance of turning things around against Daniil Medvedev at the ATP Finals.
Those odds turned out to be more than good enough for the top-ranked Spaniard.
Nadal saved that match point with a perfect drop shot and then rallied to beat Medvedev 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (4) Wednesday, keeping alive his chances of advancing from the group stage.
“Today is one of those days that one out of 1,000 you win and it happened today,” Nadal said. ”In that moment (facing match point), what you think is probably in five minutes you are in the locker room, because that’s the more normal thing. In that moment, you play with not much pressure because you are almost lost.”
Nadal looked headed for a second straight loss at the season-ending tournament but won five games in a row to go 6-5 up in the deciding set. In the tiebreaker, Medvedev missed a routine forehand to hand Nadal a match point and then sent a backhand just wide. That shot was initially called in but was overturned by Hawk-Eye after Nadal challenged the decision.
The win gives Nadal a 1-1 record after two round-robin matches, while Medvedev fell to 0-2.
In the late match, Stefanos Tsitsipas beat defending champion Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-2 for his second straight win, a result that guarantees him a place in the semifinals.