LONDON — Matteo Berrettini will leave the ATP Finals with a victory after beating Dominic Thiem 7-6 (3), 6-3 on Thursday.
The match was essentially meaningless as Thiem had already qualified for the semifinals after winning his first two round-robin matches, while Berrettini had no chance of advancing after two losses.
Thiem didn’t play anywhere near as well as in his wins over Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic but came from a break down to force a tiebreaker in the first set. However, Berrettini raced out to a 6-1 lead in the tiebreaker and converted his third set point with an ace.
In the second set, the Italian broke for a 4-2 lead and served out the match at love, sealing the win with a forehand drop shot.
Berrettini surprised many just by qualifying for the year-end event for the world’s top eight players, and said he enjoyed the experience despite the early exit.
"It was a great week," Berrettini said. "For sure being here wasn’t a goal at the beginning of the year. … It’s just crazy that it happened."
After hitting 50 winners in his three-set victory over Djokovic on Tuesday, Thiem finished with just 13 in this match.
"Of course I felt a little bit the two first matches, and then also it’s a bit of a tricky situation to know that I’m already through," the Austrian said. "Of course I was still trying to win that match 100%, but also, in the same time, I knew in my head that I have to take care for Saturday, because obviously it’s the way more important match there."
Federer and Djokovic were set to play in the evening match – their first meeting since the Wimbledon final in July – with the winner advancing to the semifinals.
[relatedlinks]
