Nadal, Djokovic beaten at ATP, setting stage for Medvedev, Thiem final – Newstrends
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Nadal, Djokovic beaten at ATP, setting stage for Medvedev, Thiem final

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Daniil Medvedev sent Rafael Nadal packing after a gruelling slugfest at the ATP Finals in London on Saturday to set up a title match against Novak Djokovic’s conqueror Dominic Thiem.

The Spanish world number two, who has never won the elite event in his illustrious career, faltered when serving for the match in the second set and was beaten 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.

Earlier, US Open champion Thiem recovered from 4-0 down in the third-set tie-break against Djokovic to win 7-5, 6-7 (10/12), 7-6 (7/5).

Russian giant Medvedev — who has won nine matches in a row — put Nadal’s serve under intense pressure in the early stages of their evening match at the empty O2 Arena.

But he was unable to make his chances count and a drop in his level allowed the Spaniard to break to love to lead 5-3 before he served out for the set.

Medvedev immediately found his focus at the start of the second set, winning his first service game to love before Nadal, a two-time finalist at the event, double-faulted to give the Russian a 2-0 lead.

Just when it seemed as though Medvedev was cruising, Nadal, 34, broke back twice to take total control and stepped up to serve for the match.

But in another astonishing twist, the 20-time Grand Slam champion played a sloppy game, allowing the Russian back into the match, and Medvedev won the eventual tie-break.

The deciding set hinged on the seventh game — the Russian produced an overhead winner on his third break point, breaking again to beat Nadal for the first time.

The Spaniard entered the match on a 71-match winning streak after taking the opening set, but 24-year-old snapped that run with a gritty mental and physical performance over two hours and 36 minutes.

“I felt really strange until 5-4 for him in the second set, when he was serving for the match,” said the fourth seed, who lost all three of his matches on his debut at the season-ending tournament last year.

Djokovic agony

Thiem’s victory against Djokovic ended the world number one’s hopes of equalling Roger Federer’s record of six titles at the eight-man event.

The 2019 runner-up faced an uphill battle psychologically after squandering four match points in the second-set tie-break.

But he was quickly back in the groove and rallied from a desperate situation in the final-set tie-break, winning six successive points to earn two match points, taking the second of those.

“It was for sure a mental battle,” said Thiem. “I got so tight in the second-set tie-break, first of all because to play these legends is always going to be something special.”

The Austrian is only the second player in 2020 to win a tie-break against Djokovic, who entered the third-set decider with a 15-1 tie-break record this season.

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Manchester United beat Liverpool in FA Cup seven-goal thriller

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Manchester United beat Liverpool in FA Cup seven-goal thriller

Substitute Amad Diallo scored the winner as Manchester United beat rivals Liverpool 4-3 in an FA Cup quarter-final clash at Old Trafford.

United took an early lead thanks to Scott McTominay’s opener but Liverpool drew level when Mac Allister struck. Mohamed Salah gave the visitors the lead and it looked like there were going to win it until substitute Antonio struck in added time.

The match went into extra-time and Harvey Elliot scored for the visitors. Again, it looked like Liverpool had done enough to win the tie when Marcus Rashford who had wasted two glorious chances drew the home team level.

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Amad had the final say. A counter-attack by Manchester United gave the Ivorian a glorious opportunity to steal the limelight and he did, scoring the winner in 120th minute.

Amad was shown a second yellow card for taking off his jersey as his team battled on with 10-men to secure passage to the semi-final of the FA Cup.

Manchester United beat Liverpool in FA Cup seven-goal thriller

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Kane sets new record as Bayern beat Darmstadt

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Harry Kane

Kane sets new record as Bayern beat Darmstadt

Harry Kane set a new personal best of 31 league goals in a season as Bayern Munich beat Darmstadt to close the gap on Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen to seven points.

Darmstadt took the lead through Tim Skarke before Jamal Musiala levelled.

Kane’s diving header put Bayern in front and Musiala dribbled past the Darmstadt defence for his second.

Substitute Serge Gnabry and Mathys Tel made it five for Bayern with Oscar Vilhelmsson scoring Darmstadt’s second.

Despite being bottom of the table, Darmstadt gave Bayern a few scares in the first half but tired in the second period as Bayern exerted their control.

There was one moment of concern for England captain Kane in the second half when he appeared to injure his ankle colliding with a goalpost.

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Kane was substituted after the incident in the 82nd minute and Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel was unsure how serious it was.

“He slipped and fell into the net and twisted his ankle,” said Tuchel. “He’s cooling it down with ice and we don’t have a diagnosis yet.

“When Harry goes off it’s never a good sign because Harry never goes off when there’s still goals to score.”

Kane had previously scored 30 goals in two Premier League seasons while at Tottenham Hotspur.

He has also set a new record for the most goals in a Bundesliga debut campaign, overtaking the previous record set by Uwe Seeler (30) for Hamburg in 1963-64 – which was the first season of the Bundesliga.

He will return to England for the Champions League quarter-finals next month when Bayern face his old foes Arsenal – he has scored 14 goals against the Gunners in 19 appearances.

The first leg takes place at Emirates Stadium on 9 April with the return leg a week later on 17 April.

Kane sets new record as Bayern beat Darmstadt

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FA Cup: Manchester City, 1 other team qualify for semi-finals

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FA Cup: Manchester City, 1 other team qualify for semi-finals

Two teams have booked their places in this season’s FA Cup semi-finals.

They are Coventry City and Manchester City.

The Championship side stunned Wolves with two injury-time goals to win 3-2 at the Molineux on Saturday.

US forward Haji Wright’s strike booked Coventry’s place in the last four for only the second time in the club’s history.

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At the Etihad, Bernardo Silva scored twice in the first half, as City beat Newcastle United 2-0.

The last two spots will be decided on Sunday, when Chelsea host Leicester City and Manchester United clash with Liverpool at Old Trafford.

FA Cup: Manchester City, 1 other team qualify for semi-finals

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