Dominic Theim asserts himself as the coming man of tennis with win over Rafael Nadal

Dominic Thiem backed up his new status as a grand-slam champion by defeating Rafael Nadal in one of the best matches of 2020.

Austrian Dominic Thiem celebrates victory over Rafael Nadal at the ATP Finals

When the “big three” — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic — eventually hang up their rackets and head off into the sunset, it would be a surprise if someone other than Dominic Thiem were to assume the mantle of the world’s best player.

The 27-year-old Austrian backed up his comparatively new status as a grand-slam champion by defeating Nadal in one of the best matches of 2020 at the ATP Finals in London.

In his first encounter with one of the esteemed trio since winning the US Open in September, Thiem stepped up and triumphed with a tremendous display of shotmaking, winning 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-4) in two hours and 25 minutes. With every match the world No 3 plays, his belief and composure become more impressive.

It was not as if Nadal struggled on court. The 20-times grand-slam champion played well, but will rue his failure to convert two set points in the first-set tie-break. The round-robin format means that he will have another chance to progress through the group stage and keep alive his hopes of winning the season-ending championship for the first time at the age of 34 if he defeats Stefanos Tsitsipas, the world No 6 from Greece, late on Thursday.

“It was a great match of tennis, decided by a few small details,” Nadal said. “He played an amazing match, and I played well too. My feeling is not negative. I think my chances are bigger to have a good result now than five days ago because the level of tennis for me, even though I lost, is much higher. I am much more confident now, and I have the chance to keep going.”

It is a great shame that this enthralling encounter was played out in an empty arena. The gruelling rallies and sensational winners from both players deserved the collective roars of 18,000 people inside the O2, rather than the ripples of applause from the respective coaching teams.

The first set was particularly intense, with neither player giving an inch in their service games. Nadal led 5-2 in the tie-break and brought up set points at 6-5 and 7-6, before Thiem battled back to win three points in a row, the last of which was sealed with a fizzing 160kph cross-court forehand winner.

It looked as though Nadal was going to take it to a decider when he claimed the first break of the match for 4-3 in the second set, but Thiem immediately broke back and was the more assertive player on the key points in the second tie-break to secure a memorable win.

His ability to swing big from the baseline under pressure and hit spin-heavy groundstrokes through the court with pinpoint accuracy — in particular his backhand down the line — is majestic.

“It is definitely one of the better matches I have played so far in my career,” Thiem said. “I think we both played great tennis, and if we do so, matches like that are the outcome. Very small things make the difference. He was the better player in that first-set tie-break, but I still won it.

“Even though Rafa is like 100 per cent from the first to the last point, it’s very important to get that first set against him, because it’s almost impossible to beat him after losing the first set. Honestly, I think that today I played a little bit higher of a level than the US Open and it was maybe the best match for me since the restart of the tour (in August).”

The Times