Novak Djokovic wins another BIG ATP honour in 2020 over Rafael Nadal after No.1 ranking

After closely holding on to his year-end World No.1 crown against Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic has snatched away yet another ATP honour from the World No.2. In an ongoing series reviewing the truncated 2020 tennis season, the ATP has released a list of what they consider to be the best games of the year. While Djokovic has not made an appearance in the ATP awards nominees list, the Serbian has won big in the informal honours, having been a part of three of the 'Best Matches of 2020'. 

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Djokovic vs Thiem ATP Finals encounter top ATP Tour Match Of 2020

Novak Djokovic has trumped arch-rival, Rafael Nadal, winning the honour of having played the best ATP Tour-level match of the year. Aiming for a record-tying 6th title at the ATP's year-end tournament Finals, Novak Djokovic took on the 2019 runner-up Dominic Thiem for the semi-finals at the O2 arena in London. Having won his first Grand Slam title at the US Open in September, Thiem bulldozed past the likes of Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas to set up an ATP Finals semi-final meeting with Djokovic. This was not even their first meeting at the Finals - Thiem had defeated Djokovic at the very same place in 2019. 

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Looking to win his first Finals title and with the experience of having played Djokovic for so long, Thiem came in hot from the very first point. A 7-5 win in the first set Thiem up for a quick win, but the World No.1 held on, saving an incredible FOUR match points to win the second set in a thrilling, 7¹²-6¹⁰ tiebreaker. Djokovic then seemed poised to win, winning four straight games in the deciding set, but there was one last twist to come - the 'Best Match' is not won without some drama - as Thiem snatched the victory from Djokovic to make it to his second consecutive final.

The No.2 spot on this list was given to the Nadal vs Medvedev semi-final at the ATP Finals that saw Medvedev, the eventual champion, win in three sets.

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Djokovic-Thiem double: Duo win best Grand Slam match of 2020 too

This was not the first time Thiem was playing Djokovic in such high stakes conditions. The pair is famous for their high octane matches - remember the 2019 Roland Garros semi-finals, that spanned over four hours and saw Thiem beat Djokovic 7-5 in a gritty fifth set or the pair's Australian Open final clash earlier this year that saw Djokovic win his 17th Grand Slam title. This epic 4-hour long, 5-set extravaganza also helped Dominic Thiem and Novak Djokovic make it to the top spot of the ATP's 'Best Grand Slam match in 2020' list. 

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Image Credits: Novak Djokovic Twitter