Daniil Medvedev won the biggest title of his career on Sunday, battling past US Open champion Dominic Thiem 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 after two hours and 43 minutes to win the Nitto ATP Finals.
Medvedev, who also beat five-time champion Novak Djokovic and World No. 2 Rafael Nadal earlier in the week, is the first player to sweep the top three players in the FedEx ATP Rankings at the season finale. The Russian is only the fourth player to accomplish the feat at a single event since the start of the ATP Tour in 1990.
Entering the Rolex Paris Masters two weeks ago, Medvedev was just 18-10 on the season with zero wins against Top 10 opponents. Since arriving at Paris-Bercy, where he lifted his third ATP Masters 1000 trophy, the 24-year-old has won 10 consecutive matches, including seven against the Top 10.
Players To Beat World’s Top Three At A Single Event
| TOURNAMENT | PLAYER |
| 2020 NITTO ATP FINALS | DANIIL MEDVEDEV |
| 2007 MADRID | DAVID NALBANDIAN |
| 2007 MONTREAL | NOVAK DJOKOVIC |
| 1994 STOCKHOLM | BORIS BECKER |
One year ago, Medvedev made a winless debut at the tournament, claiming just one set. Now he is the undefeated 2020 champion, earning 1,500 FedEx ATP Ranking points. Medvedev is the sixth different champion at the year-end championships in the past six years.
Thiem did well to save the first eight break points he faced in the match, using his booming serve and powerful groundstrokes to escape trouble throughout the match. But the Austrian flirted with disaster once too often, and he was unable to recover against his younger opponent, whom he first played in the juniors nearly a decade ago in Umag.
Medvedev is known for his nearly impenetrable defence, but he showed early on that he wanted to control play from the baseline, stepping inside the court to try to keep Thiem from unleashing his powerful groundstrokes. The World No. 4 attacked Thiem’s forehand to try to stop the Austrian from playing from the ad court.
Medvedev’s Run To The Title
| ROUND | OPPONENT | SCORE |
| FINAL | DOMINIC THIEM | 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 |
| SF | RAFAEL NADAL | 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 |
| RR | DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN | 6-3, 6-3 |
| RR | NOVAK DJOKOVIC | 6-3, 6-3 |
| RR | ALEXANDER ZVEREV | 6-3, 6-4 |
Thiem increasingly used his backhand slice, mimicking a tactic used by Nadal against Medvedev on Saturday to avoid giving the Russian pace to work with. In the critical moments, like he did against the Spaniard, Medvedev took advantage of the slower pace of play by moving forward often.
It was like deja vu for the Russian, who broke in the same manner in the third set as he did against Nadal. The World No. 4 read an incoming backhand slice and swooped into net, where he finished the job. The forehand volley Medvedev put away was ultimately the deciding point in the match, as he held his serve the rest of the way. The champion hit 12 aces in his victory and only lost two first-serve points (14/16) in the deciding set.
Medvedev now trails the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head series 3-2. Just two months ago, Thiem beat Medvedev in straight sets at the US Open.
The Austrian was trying to become the first player from his country to win the Nitto ATP Finals in singles or doubles. It is the second consecutive year he has suffered a heartbreaking loss at The O2. Last season, Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Thiem in a final-set tie-break for the trophy.
