Nadal's Incredible Comeback

Nadal was down 5-1 in the third set, but in an extraordinary comeback, he won five consecutive games, energized the crowd with his performance, and ultimately defeated the Russian player in the final tiebreaker. It was one of the best matches of the tournament, with a similar intensity to the match between Austrian Dominic Thiem and Serbian Novak Djokovic last night.

Crucial Match for Nadal

The match tonight (21.00 CET) between German Alexander Zverev and Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, both with one victory each, will be crucial to determine Nadal's future in the tournament and his fight to finish the season as number one. All three of them have won a match, and Medvedev is the only one in that group who has not yet achieved a win this week.

A Battle for Confidence

The match brought together two players searching for confidence. Medvedev, making his debut and feeling down after a couple of defeats following an extraordinary season that saw him reach fourth place in the world rankings, and Nadal, a two-time champion in this year's Grand Slam events, a finalist in London, and trying to regain his form after the scare of an abdominal strain in Paris.

But both of them pursued the same goal: to keep their hopes alive for reaching the semifinals after losing their opening matches - Nadal against Zverev and Medvedev against Tsitsipas.

Just like in the previous match against the German player, where he faced 11 aces and didn't have a single break point opportunity, Nadal encountered another great server. Daniil fired 21 aces against the Spaniard and maintained his impenetrable serve during the first set. Rafa did offer one chance, but he saved it.

And so, everything was decided in the tiebreaker, where Nadal initially lost the first point, but although he recovered it immediately after, Medvedev's serve made the difference. Two consecutive mini-breaks allowed the champion of this year's Sofia and St. Petersburg tournaments, as well as the Cincinnati and Shanghai Masters 1000 events, to claim the first set in 53 minutes.

Nadal had been pushing himself with every point, encouraging himself, infusing energy into each move, but his forehand continued to fail him. He struggled to lift the ball on this surface, where it often became stuck in the strings of his racket, and his errors affected his game when he most needed that shot.

Despite it all, Nadal managed to secure the first break of the match in the opening game of the second set. That game that all tennis players know they must not let slip away on their serve. And that was the beginning of Medvedev's downfall in this set and the resurgence of Rafa.

The consistency of the 19-time Grand Slam champion prevailed. He would not concede a single break point after that and, on the contrary, created another opportunity in the eighth game after a double fault from Daniil. On the third occasion, following a forehand error from the Russian, the score was level after one hour and 35 minutes of battle.

In the next set, a sliced backhand from Nadal that seemed to go on forever allowed Medvedev to take the lead, and the Russian took advantage of a massive lapse from Rafa to maintain his advantage and reach a 4-0 and 5-1 lead.

That's when an incredible display of strength from Nadal sparked a comeback. After saving a match point in the seventh game, he went on to win five consecutive games to force a second tiebreaker of the evening. Medvedev was clearly deflated and even mocked the cheers from the audience, who were captivated by Nadal's heroic feat.