London (AFP)

Winning shots galore, top-level tennis and great physical intensity: after a tug-of-war of nearly 2:30, Dominic Thiem dominated Rafael Nadal 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/4 ) Tuesday at the London Masters and takes a big step towards the semi-finals.

"It is certainly one of the best matches of my career (...) I played better than at the US Open," said the 27-year-old Austrian in reference to his first title in Grand Slam won in September at Flushing Meadows.

“It was not easy to get back to it after the emotions of the US Open and then after my injury in Vienna, but here I am 100% and I prepared well. I am very happy with the way. I play, ”he said.

The Austrian (3rd in the world) thus won his second victory in as many matches in the London 2020 Masters group after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas (6th) on Sunday.

Finalist in London in 2019, he will be guaranteed to play the semi-finals if Tsitsipas beats Andrey Rublev (8th) in the evening.

For Nadal (2nd), on the other hand, the task is complicated and everything will be decided Thursday at the end of the last day of the group stage for the London 2020 group, during which he will face Tsitsipas.

- Battle -

Tuesday, Thiem and Nadal faced each other for the 15th time: Nadal (34) had won nine times, but Thiem remained on a victory, on hard, in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in January.

And as the season has been short, world numbers 2 and 3, winners of the last two Grand Slam tournaments (Thiem at the US Open and Nadal at Roland Garros), were in great shape to fight a titanic battle.

No break point conceded, no double fault on either side, the two players were only able to decide in the first set in the tie break.

Thiem saved two set points before lining up three consecutive runs and pocketing the set.

"He played a little better than me in the tie break, but I still won. And even if he is 100% from the first to the last point, it was very important to win this first set. If we lose this first set, it becomes almost impossible to beat him, "Thiem analyzed.

In the second, he offered himself three match points at 5-4 and 40-0 on Nadal's serve, but the Spaniard chained five consecutive points to come back to 5-5.

- "It's not me, it's him" -

"It was not me who lost those match points, he won them. So it was very important to stay in the game and continue to play well," said Thiem.

The two players have again reached the decisive game, during which Thiem broke off 6/3 and offered himself three more match points.

He finished on the second, winning the fifth consecutive tie break against Nadal, including a quarterfinal at the Australian Open in January.

"He played a great game and I didn't play bad either so I don't have any resentment," commented the Spaniard.

"I lost, but had plenty of opportunities in the first set, I had a break in the second ... Well done Dominic, but I'm happy with the way I played . My chances of having a very good result here are greater than five days ago because my level is much higher, even though I lost today, "he warned.

To keep his chances of going far in one of the only big tournaments he has never won (twice finalist in 2010 and 2013), he will have to start by dominating Tsitsipas as widely as possible ... if possible.

© 2020 AFP