The full text of Rafael Nadal’s speech after lifting the year end number one trophy. It is always impressive how good many players are at public speaking in a non-native language:
First of all, thanks Chris for everything. It’s a real honour receive this trophy from you so many thanks for all the things that you did well for our sport.
Honestly, what can I say? I am super happy. Honestly, after all the things that I went through in my career in terms of injuries, I never thought at the age of 33 and a half that I will have this trophy in my hands again. So, it’s something really, really emotional for me. A lot of work on the shadows to be where we are today and without all my team and family that is here with me, this thing would be impossible. So I can just say thank you very much everybody for the support.
Have been some bad moments and you have been always there, so… Honestly, like this year for example, after Monte Carlo [note: Nadal considered momentarily stepping away from competition after the constant injuries broke his confidence], after the support of all these people who are here to my left, things will be much different for me this year. They encouraged me to keep going and I can’t thank them enough. Thank you very much.
Well, to all the fans and all the ATP staff… I’m gonna start with the ATP staff. We have a great tour. All the workers make us feel great every single week all around the world. So many thanks to all the people who work on the ATP and make the players and the fans enjoy a great tour so many thanks everybody in the ATP tour. Thank you.
It’s a little bit heavy! [Nadal had been carrying the huge trophy, then he put it down.]
Last thing, this trophy is an achievement all around for the whole year. So personally today I can’t thank enough to all of you for the support on this personal match and all the time that I have been playing here in London. But at the same time I have to say, because it’s something that I really feel from the bottom of my heart, to all the fans all around the world that give me their support every single week that I am playing, no? It’s very difficult to describe the feeling when you are on court. When you walk on and you feel the support and the love from that many people. So just thank you very much everybody from all around.
Of course, all the sponsors, all the people who believe in our sport. Thank you very much. We try to make the things the best way possible and I hope all the sponsors are happy with our sport. Thank you very much for supporting our sport.
And, well, guys, I don’t know if I see you tomorrow because it depends on the match in the afternoon! But I did all the things I could today. I fighted until the end: Two days ago, today. So, if I am able to play in front of you against Roger, it will be a huge honor. If not, I really hope to see you next year.
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A reminder: Rafael Nadal arrived at this tournament after withdrawing from Paris with a small abdominal tear. The abs may have been fine in the end, but his preparation was affected. It seems like he has been able to play himself into form across these three matches and he finally produced his best tennis in the second and third sets.
By the end, Nadal was flitting across the court, crushing forehands down the line, returning brilliantly and serving so well. With all the talk about the court speed and how it favours aggressive players, just look at how the Spaniard moved to the net many more times than net lover Tsitsipas (22/28 to 15/21). In the final two sets, Nadal hit 28 winners and 15 unforced errors.
A lot of credit goes to Tsitsipas, already through to the semis, who lost his way in the middle of the second set but found it just as Nadal was laying waste to his serve. That was a brilliant second set from both.
Nadal is now collecting his year-end number one trophy. The crazy thing is that although he has won two matches, he only advances if Medvedev wins.
Rafael Nadal defeats Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(4) 6-4 7-5!
Rafael Nadal finishes things off with another sublime service game, holding to 15 and sealing the win with an incredible forehand down the line. It took a while, but he finally played his best tennis. A brilliant set of tennis from both players.
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Third set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) 6-4 *6-5 Stefanos Tsitsipas. Oh my goodness. Rafael Nadal breaks! With the level this high, it was going to take something incredible for Nadal to break and it came at 30-30 when he blasted a screaming forehand down the line clean on the run. Tsitsipas couldn’t believe it, but hawkeye says that it landed right on the line.
Tsitsipas saved the break point, but Nadal continued to stand atop of the baseline and crush the ball off both wings until he finally forced an error. On break point, Nadal came up with a perfect running angled forehand passing shot, forcing a volley error from Tsitsipas. An incredible, incredible return game. We are finally seeing the best of Rafael Nadal this week and we are all better for it.
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Third set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) 6-4 5-5* Stefanos Tsitsipas: Nadal refuses to blink and pieces together a great hold to 15. Some more incredible work from the Spaniard, including a brilliant bullet of a defensive forehand at 15-15 to force a Tsitsipas error just as he thought he was about to win the point. Then he came forward and executed a beautiful backhand volley at 30-15. He held with another big ser.
Nadal has now come to the net 22 times in 27 points. He is one of the best players in the world at the net and it is so impressive to see him using it more and more as he grows older.
Third set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) 6-4 *4-5 Stefanos Tsitsipas: A love hold for Tsitsipas. After struggling on his serve throughout the past hour, that was exactly what he needed. Tsitsipas is serving huge and crushing forehands, but he’s also showing his typical variety. A really nice forehand dropshot at 15-0 caught Nadal by complete suprirse. He held with a big serve down the T. One game away. This is so impressive from both.
Third set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) 6-4 4-4* Stefanos Tsitsipas: Nadal holds. This match is on fire and there’s not much else to say. The Spaniard opened the game with an incredible stretch, angled volley that nobody in the entire stadium saw coming. Tsitsipas continued to pound forehands himself, but Nadal’s favourite stroke is on fire right now and creating so much damage. Indeed, at 30-30, he crushed three consecutive forehands and then moved forward to produce a second perfect volley, this time a dropper, to keep himself ahead.
He sealed the hold with a forehand down the line winner after a brilliant wide serve. The quality is so high right now.
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Third set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) 6-4 *3-4 Stefanos Tsitsipas: My word, another otherworldly hold from Stefanos Tsitsipas, saving another break point. Tsitsipas led 40-15, only for Nadal to respond with three brilliant points in a row: he swept into the net and executed a perfect lunging volley at full stretch, then he crushed an inside out forehand to bring the game to Deuce. He brought up break point on Tsitsipas with a brilliant angled return winner.
But Tsitsipas is also dialled in now. and he saved the break point with a huge serve. After Nadal shanked a wayward forehand, the Greek clinched the game with a brilliant inside out forehand of his own. Wonderful.
Third set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) 6-4 3-3* Stefanos Tsitsipas: Nadal digs out his first difficult hold of the match, recovering from 0-30 down with aplomb.
From 0-30 down, Nadal worked his way back into the game with a fizzling forehand down the line, then a great backhand to force a Tsitsipas error. At 30-30, with the pressure resting heavily on his shoulders, Nadal crushed a forehand down the line and dispatched an easy volley behind it. He held with a sliding service winner out wide and a cry of “vamos”. Aggressive, fearless play from the Spaniard. This is heating up.
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Third set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) 6-4 *2-3 Stefanos Tsitsipas: A truly majestic hold form Tsitsipas. The clearest measuring stick for Nadal is his forehand down-the-line and it is finally starting to purr. After dominating all the opening rallies, at 15-30 Nadal connected with a brilliant forehand down the line and then swept to the net to finish off the point.
What did Tsitsipas do from 15-40 down? He hit an ace down the T, a brilliant drop volley winner, a huge forehand de-facto winner and then a big inside out forehand winner to hold. Gutsy as heck. The youngster keeps himself on serve and in the match.
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Third set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) 6-4 2-2* Stefanos Tsitsipas: Nadal is still rolling through his service games and he seals another love hold with a 127mph ace down the T. All of the pressure and the action is on the Greek’s serve.
Third set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) 6-4 *1-2 Stefanos Tsitsipas: Tsitsipas holds again with some great serving, including an ace to bring up 40-15. When Nadal pegged him back to deuce, he found a good service winner and then he slipped in a serve and volley to hold.
The Greek needs to move to the net more and throw in more serve and volleys, as he did in the first set. Now is not the time for being tentative and cautious.
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Third set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) 6-4 1-1* Stefanos Tsitsipas: Nadal continues to serve well in the third set and he is still yet to face a break point. His body serve is particularly purring and he holds with one such 124mph bullet.
Taking the match into a deciding set @RafaelNadal takes the 2nd set v @StefTsitsipas #NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/McOnBeMeGK
— Gigi Salmon (@gigi_salmon) November 15, 2019
Third set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) 6-4 *0-1 Stefanos Tsitsipas: Tsitsipas had to immediately defend a 15-30 deficit, but he responded with a great combination of forehands to win two successive points and bring up game point. He held with a good 129mph ace out wide.
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It has taken a while, but there was some evidence that Nadal is playing himself into form here in London. That was easily the best set of Nadal’s week so far. He is taking his return earlier and was stepping into the court, dominating the exchanges and moving forward. He is now 13/17 for net points won compared to Tsitsipas with 8/10.
Across the net, Tsitsipas has been far from horrible but under that sustained pressure from Nadal, he just crept into his shell. The Greek needs to get back to playing on the front foot and moving forward to the net. He also needs to return much better. After 23 games, Tsitsipas hasn’t even been close to generating a break point. That is pretty unacceptable for him.
Second set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) 6-4 Stefanos Tsitsipas
We are going to three! There was little doubt from Nadal, who moved to 40-0 with an ace out wide. It took a couple of attempts, but he found a great wide slice serve on his third set point to seal a brilliant set. He will love his chances heading into the final set.
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Second set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) *5-4 Stefanos Tsitsipas: Nadal breaks! Nadal had been putting on immense pressure for a while, and after some brave resistance Tsitsipas finally crumbled under it. It took an incredible point from Nadal at 30-30, who piled on the pressure with wicked forehands to the Tsitsipas backhand before slipping into the net and slamming an overhead home. Down break point, a rattled Tsitsipas misfired a routine forehand well wide. Nadal will serve for the set and he is playing great right now.
Second set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) 4-4* Stefanos Tsitsipas: Nadal still looks really sharp right now. He is the player taking the rallies on and moving forward to the net.
After a nice improvised volley at 15-15, he forced a Tsitsipas backhand error with a heavy forehand and then held with an unreturned serve. Tsitsipas’ returning has been quite dire and he hasn’t been close to breaking Nadal today.
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Second set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) *3-4 Stefanos Tsitsipas: A truly sublime hold from Stefanos Tsitsipas. Nadal is piling on the pressure now, taking control of the points and returning well. He opened with an inch-perfect angled backhand passing shot, then a majestic forehand down the line to lead 0-30. After Tsitsipas pegged him back with some big serving, Nadal battled again to force a break point.
But from break point down, Tsitsipas found three big serves in succession to scupper the danger and keep his nose ahead. Can he keep Nadal at bay? Two games away.
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Second set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) 3-3* Stefanos Tsitsipas: After the disappointment of the previous game, a nice recovery from Nadal there. He held to 15 with a big unreturned serve and the pressure is immediately back on Tsitsipas’ broad shoulders.
Here’s that brutal return on the first point of the previous game.
Crushed it 🔥@RafaelNadal #NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/h5qSvhXlpf
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 15, 2019
Second set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) *2-3 Stefanos Tsitsipas: A brilliant hold from Tsitsipas from double break point down! Nadal burst into the game with a brutal forehand down the line return winner at 15-0, then he crushed a forehand inside out winner after another amazing forehand return. A double fault from Tsitsipas brought up Nadal’s first break point.
How did the 21 year-old respond? From 15-40, he struck an incredible half-volley forehand winner that fizzed down the line, then he broke down the Nadal forehand with deep, penetrating backhands to save the second. Tsitsipas closed it out with great serve and volley. So aggressive and so gutsy.
Second set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) 2-2* Stefanos Tsitsipas: Tsitsipas opened with a really nice backhand return as Nadal stormed into the net behind his first serve, but 0-15 is as close as the Greek got to a break point this time. With more brilliant serving from Nadal, he won 4 points in a row and closed with an ace out wide.
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Second set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) *1-2 Stefanos Tsitsipas: Another dominant hold from Tsitsipas, who continues to take the ball early and move forward. He sealed the game with an ace down the T. We are 16 games in yet no player has generated a single break point today.
Here are the scenarios again. As you can see, Tsitsipas winning the first set doesn’t change anything.
Here's a handy little chart to help you through the possibilities today at #NittoATPFinals, courtesy of @ATPMediaInfo. pic.twitter.com/fOOUk7gZTp
— Blair Henley (@BlairHenley) November 15, 2019
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Second set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) 1-1* Stefanos Tsitsipas: Nadal responds with a good love hold of his own, sealed with an easy unreturned second serve. A big “venga!” from the Spaniard in the middle of it. He’s not going anywhere, but anyone watching this should already know that.
Second set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) *0-1 Stefanos Tsitsipas: That was a quick and businesslike service game from Tsitsipas to open the second set. As he continues to fire booming forehands, an absolutely gorgeous angled backhand dropshot at 30-15. He held with a big ace down the T.
That was another strange set from Nadal. Once again, he served pretty well and he was extremely successful at the net, winning 8 of 10 net points. But his groundstrokes are still far too insecure and he can’t count on them under pressure: 4 unforced errors in the tiebreak and 15 overall. However, he’s clearly still in this.
Tsitsipas has been good but he will probably need to return better in set two.
First set: Rafael Nadal 6-7(4) Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Stefanos Tsitsipas slams down an ace down the T to take the first set! 5-0 in sets this week, no problem.
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First set: Rafael Nadal 6-6 (4-6*) Stefanos Tsitsipas: This is just too inconsistent off the ground from Nadal. After moving back to 4-4 with bullet forehand down the line, he netted a routine backhand. Great work from Tsitsipas, who buried an accurate forehand down the line at 5-4 to bring up set point. Will he do it?
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First set: Rafael Nadal 6-6 (2-4*) Stefanos Tsitsipas: After so few points going against the serve in the opening set, the opening three went the way of the returner. Tsitsipas leads after bad forehand into the net by Nadal at 2-2, followed by a routine backhand long. That may hurt.
First set: Rafael Nadal 6-6 Stefanos Tsitsipas: We’re heading to a tiebreak! It was Nadal who left his mark on the highlights reel there with a breathtaking down-the-line rocket of a forehand winner at 15-0, but another solid hold from Tsitsipas.
There were some tense exchanges, particularly at 15-15 where Tsitsipas hesitated instead of moving forward before Nadal dumped a meek backhand into the net, but some big serving from the Greek to hold.
First set: Rafael Nadal 6-5* Stefanos Tsitsipas: Nadal’s forehand is winning many of the battles against Tsitsipas’ backhand at the moment. At 15-15 he hooked a forehand high to the Tsitsipas backhand and elicited an error, then Tsitsipas responded by stepping in and overcooking a backhand into the net. A big second out wide and he holds with ease. Nadal has still only lost two points behind his first serve.
First set: Rafael Nadal *5-5 Stefanos Tsitsipas: Plenty of scoreboard pressure for Tsitsipas at 4-5, but he responds by producing one of his best service games of the match so far. After some big serving, he crushes a squeaky clean forehand inside out winner to hold. That forehand was so good that it elicited a yell of appreciation of Nadal.
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First set: Rafael Nadal 5-4* Stefanos Tsitsipas: This is starting to heat up nicely. At 0-15, some absolutely insane defense from Nadal at the net. Tsitsipas crushed an enormous forehand straight to Nadal at the net, but Nadal’s reflexes saved him and he did just enough with the following volley to force the net. Nadal is starting to find some joy by outmanoeuvring Tsitsipas with his forehand, and an accurate forehand down the line from the deuce court forces Tsitsipas to scramble and shank a backhand far out. Honestly, Nadal looks better than he has so far this week.
First set: Rafael Nadal *4-4 Stefanos Tsitsipas: A very big hold from Tsitsipas, who dug it out from 15-30. Tsitsipas calmly applied pressure with his forehand, crushing a forehand down the line just good enough to force an error. At 30-30, he serve and volleyed, producing a gorgeous lunging backhand drop volley to bring up game point. Tsitsipas failed to convert it, but he moved forward again and picked a nice backhand volley so well. He sealed the game with a couple of big, accurate forehands. Attack, attack, attack.
First set: Rafael Nadal 4-3* Stefanos Tsitsipas: Some more very good serving from Nadal, who holds to love quickly and easily.
One notable event in the previous game: Tsitsipas’s final ace in the was called out and then overruled by the chair umpire. Nadal checked the mark and happily gave it a thumbs up. Nadal didn’t challenge but hawk-eye showed the ball out by two millimetres in the TV studio. Hawk-eye’s margin of error is 3 millimetres - it’s far from perfect.
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First set: Rafael Nadal *3-3 Stefanos Tsitsipas: While Nadal is serving at 75% first serves with 92% of points won behind it, Tsitsipas did not serve well in the opening game. But he is now and he holds to love, closing with 2 aces in a row.
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First set: Rafael Nadal 3-2* Stefanos Tsitsipas: It’s early days, but already an interesting stat: Both Nadal and Tsitsipas are ¾ for net points won. Like Tsitsipas, Nadal is already coming forward whenever possible and he played a beautiful low backhand volley at 15-0 to wrong foot the Greek. Nice 126mph service winner out wide from Nadal to hold to 15.
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First set: Rafael Nadal *2-2 Stefanos Tsitsipas: A much stronger hold from Tsitsipas there, easily levelling the match to love. He crushed a really nice angled forehand at 15-0, then Nadal badly dumped a backhand slice attempt into the net. Tsitsipas closed it out with a big unreturned serve.
The joys of round robin tennis.
Nadal will be knocked out of the ATP Finals if he loses to Tsitsipas this afternoon.
— Stuart Fraser (@stu_fraser) November 15, 2019
If Nadal wins, then he will knock out Daniil Medvedev but must hope that the Russian beats Zverev later. Nadal would then go through as group winner to play Federer tomorrow.
Erm... got it?
First set: Rafael Nadal 2-1* Stefanos Tsitsipas: Another good hold for Nadal, this time to 30, but Tsitsipas is being so aggressive with his backhand early on. At 30-15, the Greek once again wrestled with Nadal’s forehand and won the battle, moving forward on a big backhand down the line. But it was too central and Nadal easily slipped a backhand passing shot beyond him. Nice serve and volley from Nadal to hold.
First set: Rafael Nadal *1-1 Stefanos Tsitsipas: That was a good hold for Tsitsipas from deuce. The Greek led 40-15 before firing a couple of loose forehands, but he responded with a great serve and volley at deuce. He is already thinking fast.
We also saw one of the essential mini battles early on as Nadal attempted to break down the Tsitsipas backhand with his forehand at 30-15 and also at advantage Tsitsipas. Both times, the 21 year old stepped into the court and crushed his single-hander on the rise, forcing a forehand error. Very interesting.
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First set: Rafael Nadal 1-0* Stefanos Tsitsipas: A good start for Nadal, who speeds through his opening service game and holds to 15 without having to hit a groundstroke. Four big serves and a double fault. Not bad.
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The players are on-court. Rafael Nadal won the toss and chose to serve first. Let’s go.
Here are the group scenarios.
Here's a handy little chart to help you through the possibilities today at #NittoATPFinals, courtesy of @ATPMediaInfo. pic.twitter.com/fOOUk7gZTp
— Blair Henley (@BlairHenley) November 15, 2019
The big Nadal quote after his great comeback to Daniil Medvedev.
Q. Is this a game that could be easily shown to young academies, like yours and any other in the world, and pass the message to the young guys that they should never quit, they should fight until the last point? Is it one of those games?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, examples are not for one day. Examples are every day. And in my opinion, the example is not the comeback, because the comeback is -- of course you need to be there and you need to keep fighting, but the example, in my opinion, is not break a racquet when you are 5-1 in the third or not be out of your self-control when the things are not going the right way.
Just staying positive, staying on court, accepting that the opponent is playing a little bit better than you and accepting that you are not that good. That’s the only example, no? Because sometimes the frustration comes when you believe and you consider yourself too good and you don’t accept the mistakes that you are doing.
So something that not happen to me very often, and I know I can have mistakes and I normally accept it. That’s the only thing.
And for me that’s the only example that I can try to tell the guys. Don’t consider themself too good. Accept the mistakes, because everybody have mistakes and you need to keep going after the mistakes. That’s the only way.
And here is video of Tsitsipas’ press conference in Australia, just to see how demoralised he was after the defeat. As he has improved and matured throughout the year, I think one of his greatest assets is that he has learnt to take both his defeats and victories slightly more calmly.
When he fell in the first round of the US Open, he was much more positive, and it set him up for a great final stretch. This season has been a massive learning curve for the Greek and it is impressive to see how well he is ending it.
We need to talk more about that Australian Open semi-final. Here are some quotes from Tsitsipas after losing 6-2 6-4 6-0 to Nadal:
I really can’t think of something positive on that match. Probably the second set, which was the one that I got closer to. The rest, it kind of felt like in a way it wasn’t tennis so much like the other matches that I played. It felt like a different dimension of tennis completely.
He gives you no rhythm. He plays just a different game style than the rest of the players. He has this, I don’t know, talent that no other player has. I’ve never seen a player have this. He makes you play bad. I don’t know. I would call that a talent.
---
I just couldn’t today. The angles that he was using, my brain was used to a certain rhythm of the game with all the righty players that I played this week. Him, it felt like I was always, when he was playing, on the wrong foot. Didn’t check properly. Felt very slow today. I feel pretty fast when I’m on the court. I mean, I’ve improved a lot in that part of my game. Today I felt like a 2-meter-10 guy that can’t move on the court. That’s definitely not me. I don’t know.
Preamble
Hello! Welcome to our coverage on day 6 of the ATP Finals in London, the final day of round robin group action, where all four players in Group Andre Agassi are still in with a chance of reaching the semi-finals. Stefanos Tsitsipas and Rafael Nadal will begin first, resuming one of the most interesting top 10 match-ups around. Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev will follow them in the evening.
Stefanos Tsitsipas had his first huge moment at the beginning of the year when he defeated Roger Federer at the Australian Open before reaching his first slam semi-final there. But in that semi-final, he was absolutely obliterated 6-2 6-4 6-0 by Nadal and the Greek left the court shattered. It marked a third consecutive defeat for Tsitsipas against Nadal and he began to wonder if he would ever be able to win.
Well, he did. In their very next meeting, on clay and in Madrid of all place, Tsitsipas finally registered his first win over Nadal. With that settled, the 21 year-old should come into the match full of confidence after a brilliant 6-3 6-2 win over Zverev two days ago. Despite being the youngest player in the event, he is the only player with a perfect record. These conditions clearly suit the Greek well as the fast, low bouncing courts aid his net game and should diminish the effect of Nadal’s heavy topspin forehand on his vulnerable single-handed backhand.
Across the net, Nadal produced an astonishing comeback against Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday, recovering from match point down and 1-5 in the third set. It was another reflection of his heart and mental stability as the Russian choked badly, but we should not mistake that mental triumph as a reflection of his level. The big question is whether he will use that victory to spur him onto new heights or if he will continue to struggle with his forehand, defence and serve. If he doesn’t improve, he will lose today. This much is clear. Let’s see what the Spaniard has to offer.
