Zverev win at ATP Finals confirms Nadal exit

Rafael Nal heed home from ATP Finals after defending champion Alexander Zverev's win against Daniil Medvedev confirmed Spaniard's exit from season-ending tournament. world number one recovered to beat Stefas Tsitsipas 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 7-5 in early round-robin match at London's O2 Arena but knew he was dependent on later result. Zverev's 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) win on Friday meant he qualified for semi-finals from Group Andre Agassi alongside Tsitsipas.

Tsitsipas, who topped group, will play six-time champion Roger Federer in Saturday's semi-finals while Zverev will meet Dominic Thiem, who finished ahe of Federer in Group Bjorn Borg. German seventh seed Zverev broke fourth-seeded Medvedev early, with Russian kwing he was alrey heing out of tournament after two defeats. But Medvedev dug deep in second set, fending off single break point engineered by Zverev and took it to a tie-break.

pair swapped mini-breaks but Medvedev double-faulted to give Zverev a 5-3 le and German held his nerve to seal his first match point with an ace. "I'm in semis again, this arena is where I play my best tennis," said Zverev. "We don't play in this atmosphere anywhere else in world. "Today because Daniil h thing to lose he could just enjoy it, but for me it was must-win. He's been best player since summer so all credit to him." 

RE | Rafael Nal: Full Speech Transcription After Finishing Year As World Number One

RE | ATP Finals: Rafael Nal Houred With Year-end 1 Trophy For Fifth Time

Nal assured of . 1

Zverev, who beat vak Djokovic in final last year, has h a mixed season but w has chance to end it on a high in London. Nal, who has alrey secured year-end number one ranking, has never won end-of-season tournament and h a miserable start at O2 Arena, being outplayed by Zverev in his opening match. But 19-time Grand Slam champion produced an astonishing comeback to defeat Medvedev on Wednesday and give himself a chance of qualifying from round-robin phase.

Tsitsipas, 21, h alrey qualified for semi-finals before Friday's match after beating Medvedev and Zverev. Serve dominated in first set on Friday, with Tsitsipas taking it on a tie-break. But Nal put increasing pressure on his opponent's serve and a single break in sets two and three were eugh for him to seal match.

Following his win Nal was in strange position of t kwing wher he would qualify for kckout rounds or t. He received trophy for finishing year as top-ranked player on court at O2. "I'm super happy," he said.  "Honestly, after all things I went through in my career in terms of injuries I never thought at of 33-and-a-half I would have this trophy in my hands again. "It's something really, really emotional for me. A lot of work in shows to be where we are today." Federer secured a spot in semi-finals for 16th time in his career on Thursday by beating Djokovic in straight sets.

RE | Rafael Nal Closes Season As World Number One For Fifth Time

RE | Rafael Nal Defeats Stefas Tsitsipas To Keep ATP Finals Hopes Alive