ATP Finals | Medvedev wins undefeated Master title at ATP Finals

Daniil Medvedev won the title of Master this Sunday after beating Dominic Thiem 4-6, 7-6 (2) and 6-3 in 2:42 in the final of the last edition of the ATP Finals held in London, the twelfth disputed in the English capital, a farewell without an audience in the imposing O2 Arena because of the coronavirus. The Russian, who had already come back in the semifinals against Nadal and lost all three group stage matches in 2019, was proclaimed undefeated champion on the 50th anniversary from a tournament that started in 1970 with the victory of Stan Smith, the American who gave his name to famous Adidas shoes. And a curious fact: the first winner at the London headquarters was another son of mother Russia, Nikolay Davydenko. In 2021, the event will move to Turin (Italy) and will be played as always, much to the regrets of Rafa Nadal, on hard court.

The epilogue of the championship on British soil pitted the present of the circuit against the nearest future, paradigmatic duel of what could already be the beginning of a changing of the guard, although Nadal and Djokovic continue to want to fight and it is unknown what Federer can do on his return, because his class is infinite. But age is unforgiving and both Thiem (27 years old) and Medvedev (24) reached the final after beating both the Spanish and the Serbian. Another interesting fact is the one that points to the number four in the world as the sixth different champion and the fifth new one since 2015, after Djokovic, who had already won four other trophies, Murray, Dimitrov, Zverev and Tsitsipas.

Medvedev's time had to come. It was a matter of time before a player of his tenacity and with tennis skills that compensated for his bizarre style, will begin to do great things. In 2019 he won four titles, two of them, Cincinnati and Shanghai, Masters 1,000, and played another five finals, the most important at the US Open, when he squeezed Nadal. If the Big Three had not survived, its explosion would surely have come sooner. This year had not been so good for him, but his final sprint, with successes in Paris-Bercy, where he ousted Federer from fourth place in the ranking, and London, where he has become the fourth player to beat the top three in the ranking in the same tournament since 1990, they have elevated him.

Against Thiem, who had swept him months before precisely in the American major, Medvedev made a great tactical and technical game. His style is not very aesthetic, he hits the forehand with an exaggerated movement and his two-handed backhand is rare, but it is a wall, he has a lot of patience and he moves wonderfully despite measuring 1.98. He came to the tournament a little less fresh than the Austrian because he played and won all five Paris-Bercy games while the world number three skipped them, although he had played two more hours this week. In the first set, without feeling of dominance and after lifting two break points, Thiem broke his rival's serve and later maintained the advantage. In numbers, the two were very even. The second set was scored by the Muscovite and he deserved it for aggressiveness (19 winning shots), although he suffered a lot in two games with break points against. Dominic let his chances slip and in the tiebreaker he didn't hit a racket with a ball. And the third quarter was closed by the new master with a direct serve after achieving his first break in his ninth break opportunity to get 3-2 and serve. His coldness helped him manage the last game and he just celebrated a huge victory against a major rival. Quite a character to give a lot to talk about.

Schedule and results of the ATP Finals.