Daniil Medvedev fights back to win ATP Finals 2020, beats Dominic Thiem in final; watch

Looking at Daniil Medvedev as he entered the O2 arena last night, no one would have guessed that the man had just beaten the two top players of the world - if not the two greatest players ever in the game - to reach the finals of the ATP Finals 2020. As he won what is now the biggest victory of his six-year-long professional career, there was no defiant roar or emotional collapse to the ground from the ATP Finals 2020 winner. There was but a shrug to his box and a slight look to the camera in acknowledgement of the historic victory. 

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ATP Tour Finals 2020: Medvedev vs Thiem highlights

As unassuming as the victory was, Medvedev brought the aggression and confidence to the court from the word go. After a 30-40 hold of serve, Medvedev gave this year's US Open champion no time to settle in, taking his very first service game to 40-40 and earning two breakpoints from the game. Thiem defended with nerves of steel. At 2-2 in the first set, Thiem came back from 0-40 to secure the ever-important break of serve against Medvedev. Medvedev's crucial double-fault at 40-A gave Thiem the lead he had been seeking and the Austrian held on to it.

Medvedev fought hard, taking each of his opponent's service games to the edge, but was defeated by a lucky shot from Thiem that clipped the net to fly straight into his body, giving Thiem the set 6-4. The second set saw Dominic Thiem, the World No. 3, take a little tumble halfway through. The well contested and almost perfectly matched set, went to a tie break, with Medvedev coming out the far superior player.

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After his heroic comeback from 0-4 in the last set tiebreak during the semi-final against Nadal, it would've seemed that nothing urged Thiem on like a spot of pressure.

However, the Austrian fumbled and went down 7-6(2) to take the Medvedev vs Thiem final to a thrilling decider. In very Novak Djokovic-esque fashion, Daniil Medvedev only got stronger as the match progressed. At 2-2 and 40-15 on Thiem's serve, Medvedev had squandered six break points in the match. It took Medvedev his ninth breakpoint to finally earn the break of serve that would win him the match. 

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Medvedev vs Thiem final: Records set on the night

From 3-2 in the final set, it was all smooth sailing for Medvedev who held on to his serve to become the sixth different winner at the tournament on the last six years. He also became the fourth person to win the title after having gone down 0-3 on debut. The tournament will now move to Turin in Italy after 11 years in London that saw a Russian Nikolay Davydenko take the first title at the O2 and Daniil Medvedev, another Russian close off that chapter.

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Image Credits: Daniil Medvedev Twitter