09:59
Rafael Nadal 5-4 * Dominic Theme. To keep himself ahead and in a game of the first set, Nadal recovered from 0-30. Theme starts 9 feet back from baseline with a ridiculous backhand return passing shot winner and then Nadal gets caught in the net and a lucky net cord goes his way.
Nadal did not panic from 0-30 down, reaching 40-0 through three consecutive services through the game before both players landed on the brutal bodies before the Nadal theme was forced off the court with the help of a heavy crosscourt forehand. A great hold.
09:52
Rafael Nadal * 4-4 Dominic theme. The level of play at the moment is a bit of a broker. Nadal came up with a beautiful drop volley to reach 15-15, where when Theme was running towards 15-15, a beautiful drop shot of his own was the winner.
09:49
Rafael Nadal 4-3 * Dominic Theme. The theme rotated with his pace as he placed a 15-30 lead in a more quality game. How did Nadal react? He jumped into the net and played two clever volleyballs, then got to serve the big one in a row. Supreme athleticism and great hits on both sides, but making such great decisions on both sides.
09:45
Rafael Nadal * 3-3 Dominic Thiem. Theme level Nadal was a great game for both players The theme was quickly reaching hold, but Nadal survived 40-15, winning the forehand and passing a brilliant down-line forehand side shot to the drawn points.
Thyme did a good job of pushing a trademark down-the-line with the help of the backhand, which Nadal removed with his own winning backhand below the line. Theme reacted with an unreasonable crosscourt backhand winner of its own. At game point, after a ruthless exchange, the theme shuts it down with a subtle counter drop shot. Each point is going straight to the highlight relay. Incredible thing.
Updated
09:35
Rafael Nadal 3-2 * Dominic Theme. This time Nadal grabbed it again, this time after doing several uninterrupted work, he closed it with so much confidence, the theme shot after hitting the net cord and finishing the whole stretch with another nice angled drop volley. It wasn’t an easy volley at all, but he made it look like it.
09:31
Rafael Nadal * 2-2 Dominic Theme. The theme responds with a really good hold on 15 behind some great service. From 15-15 he put the first shot behind the big survey with drawn winners: forehand drop shots, forehand forehand and then sick sweet forehand pieces. Just very nice.
09:27
Rafael Nadal 2-1 * Dominic Theme. Nadal eased to 15 through a second hold, which also stopped continuous net burning. First he sent a volley behind a sultry forehand, then he ended the game with a serve and a volley.
Nadal has won 5/5 net points so far. He looks forward to moving forward whenever he can and he should remain as one of the underrated net players.
Updated
09:24
Rafael Nadal * 1-1 Dominic Thiem. After a quick start from Nadal in his service game, Theme came back very well from 0-30. At 0-30, he switched things up with a very good serve and volley, then at 30-30 he hit an ace. He closed it with a second of a wicked kick that made an advance error from Nadal. It looks quality tennis and looks ready for both players
09:19
Rafael Nadal 1-0 * Dominic Theme. A positive, progressive start from Nadal, open with it for 15 overs.
Nadal took just one point to start the first brutal rally when he forged the forehand at 15-15 at the end of a tough exchange. Nadal then did very well, pulling Theme off the court with a great crosscourt forehand at 15-15, sending a sliding survival to 30-15 and then ending his first hold with a great drop volley in the net.
09:13
The game has started. Meanwhile, congratulations to one of the other top Spanish players of this generation, Carla Suarez Navarro, Who is undergoing another round of chemotherapy for Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
09:07
Rafael Nadal and Dominic Theme are on the court. Nadal will serve first.
09:02
2020 Top 10 Records:
Dominic Theme: 6-2 (all hard)
Rafael Nadal: 2-3 (hard 2-3)
08:55
This is the time of year when tennis journalists and fans stumble upon basic math.
- If Nadal beats Thiem in 2 sets or Nadal Thiem and Rubelv beats Titsipas, Nadal will advance to the semifinals
- If Thiem beats Nadal and Sitisipas Rubelv, Thiem will advance to the semifinals
07:16
If you have an extra 37 minutes, face them in Melbourne this year. Sounds like a decade ago.
07:14
Presentation
Hello! Welcome to our coverage on the 3rd day of the O2 Arena ATP Final, where we have the biggest match of the event so far with French Open Champion and No. 2 Rafael Nadal with US Open Champion and No. 3 Dominic Theme.
This match involves major for both the group stage and beyond. They are battling for dominance in the group after Stefanos Sitisipas and Nadal’s easy three-set win against Andre Rubelv in an easy match. If Nadal wins today, he will be able to hold on to his second-ranked ranking, and it would be better for him to win his second seed at the Australian Open. Despite what they can say, no player wants to face Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.
Although Nadal is leading 9-5 on a head-to-head basis, Theme has made so much progress against the big three in recent years and his success has been reflected in their last 6 matches 3-3 H2H. They have only played twice on tough courts, with Nadal setting the quarter-finals of their classic 2018 US Open 5th-set (5) before Thiem won the quarter-finals of the tough Australian Open in four sets this year.
Both have played at a high level in their opening matches and this match will give an accurate reflection of exactly where they are both looking for their first ATP final title.