Rafael Nadal on Sunday launched his bid for a first ATP Finals trophy in style, taming in-form Andrey Rublev in straight sets in London after Dominic Thiem beat Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Spanish world No. 2, chasing the biggest prize missing from his glittering resume, barely broke sweat as he outclassed the Russian debutant 6-3, 6-4 at an empty O2 Arena.
Earlier, US Open champion Thiem avenged his defeat by Tsitsipas in the championship match last year, beating the Greek sixth seed 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-3.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Nadal, who last month equaled Roger Federer’s record of 20 Grand Slam titles by winning the French Open, has won 86 titles, but just one of those has come on an indoor hard court.
His record at the eight-man elite event pales in comparison with his main rivals. Federer, who is absent with injury, has won it a record six times, while Novak Djokovic has triumphed five times.
Nadal, 34, and Rublev both held serve comfortably in the early stages, but the Spaniard made his move in the sixth game, breaking the Russian, who hurled his racket to the ground in frustration, and wrapped up the set with the minimum of fuss.
Rublev, who has won an ATP Tour-leading five titles this season, was broken again in the first game of the second set, leaving him with a mountain to climb.
The seventh seed upped his first-serve percentage, but it was too little, too late.
Nadal did not face a break point in the entire match.
“Always the first match is very tricky,” Nadal said. “Every match is difficult when you’re playing against the best of the best, so it’s a positive start for me, very happy.”
“I think my serve worked very well tonight, so that’s a bit of help always on these surfaces,” the two-time finalist added.
Nadal said that winning in straight sets was a big confidence boost ahead of his “super-difficult match” against Thiem today.
In the opening match, Austria’s Thiem missed a clutch of break points against Tsitsipas, but battled back from 4-1 down in the first-set tiebreak to take the lead.
The defending champion broke early in the second set to level and appeared to have the momentum, but Thiem rallied impressively, earning a break with a delicate forehand in the second game of the decider, which proved decisive.
“I think the level was higher last year,” Thiem said. “We were both in great shape last year in the final, we wanted that title 100 percent. The atmosphere was insane last year in the final and today was a little bit different.”
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