Rafael Nadal Exits ATP Finals 2019 But Finishes The Year As World No 1: Watch Video of Rafa Greeting His Fans at O2 Arena And Promising To Be Next Year
Nadal would have faced the Serbian Tennis star in the semis if Medvedev would have defeated Zverev in the match. Nevertheless, the talismanic Tennis player was felicitated with the trophy for number one ranked Tennis player and he got emotional. “I did all the things I could and it will be a huge honour to face Federer in the semi-final tie,” said the veteran.
Rafael Nadal might not have enjoyed the best of outings in the ATP Finals 2019 where he failed to qualify for the semi-finals. However, he managed to add one more feather to his already prestigious cap by ending the year 2019 as the number one ranked Tennis player. With this trophy, the spainyard equalled the record of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic of ending a year at the no. 1 ATP rankings for the fifth time. In that list, the Tennis stalwart is just behind former American Tennis star Pete Sampras who has achieved the feat six times. 2008, 2010, 2013 and 2017 are the other four years when Nadal ended as the number one ranked Tennis player. Rafael Nadal Produces Stunning Comeback Win Over Daniil Medvedev.
Talking about his performance in ATP Finals 2019, he won the last league match against Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 7-5 but had to depend upon Daniil Medvedev’s victory over Alexander Zverev in the succeeding clash. However, Zverev won that encounter which meant Nadal’s journey in the tournament was over. Post his win against Tsitsipas, the spainyard thanked his fans for their love and support over the year and also said that, "it will be an honour if I'll play the semi-final clash against Roger Federer". Nadal would have faced the Serbian Tennis star in the semis if Medvedev would have defeated Zverev in the match. Nevertheless, the talismanic Tennis player still bagged the trophy of the number one ranked Tennis player.
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In the first match of the tournament, the Tennis star faced a thumping defeat against defending champion against Zverev. He won his next two encounters against Medvedev and Tsitsipas but wasn’t able to compensate for his loss in the opening game which became a reason for his ouster. In the first semi-final, Tsitsipas will lock horns with Federer while Dominic Thiem and Zverev will tussle in the semi-final 2.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 16, 2019 09:41 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).