Jaume Munar beat Frances Tiafoe 4-1 4-3 (7-3) 4-1 in just 56 minutes to keep his chance of qualifying for the semifinals at the Next Gen ATP Finals alive. Munar will reach the knock-out stage if Stefanos Tsitsipas beats Hubert Hurkacz.
Munar lost against Hurkacz in the decisive fifth set after coming back from two sets down and needed a win against Tiafoe to have the chance to qualify. He broke once in the first set and in the third sets.
Tiafoe lost 40 % of the points in his service games and dropped his serve twice from the four break point chances he faced.
Tiafoe saved a break point with a forehand winner in the second game.
Munar, who trains at the Rafa Nadal Academy, got the first break of the match in the fourth game at 30 with a volley winner to clinch the opening set 4-1.
Tiafoe saved a break point at the start of the second set with a service winner. The second set went on serve until the tie-break. Munar earned an early mini-break and sealed the tie-break on his first set point 7-3 with a running forehand winner.
Munar went up a break in the second game of the third set to open up a 2-0 lead. Tiafoe earned a break point, but Munar hit two first serve winners to win the deciding point. Munar served out the third set at love to wrap up the third set 4-1.
“I did what I had to do. It’s not in my hands anymore. The most important thing was to play better and better every day. I will follow this evening’s matches in my hotel to see if I qualify or not. Maybe we can buy a Greek flag. At least i felt like I was a good tennis player, so it is important for me. It was another match for me. I knew I had to play a little bit better tennis. We did the same. Morning gym and then we took breakfast just warm-up. A long warm-up with a little bit of practice. They were the things we didn’t do well yesterday. I just tried to be motivated and fight. This is what I did today”, said Munar.
Rublev takes crucial straight-set win over Caruana:
Andrey Rublev clinched a much needed win in straight sets beating Italian wild card Liam Caruana 4-3 (9-7) 4-1 4-2. Taylor Fritz will need to beat Alex De Minaur in three or four sets this evening to survive the round-robin stage in the Group B. If Fritz beats De Minaur in five sets, he will qualify for the semifinal joining the Australian player, who has already secured his spot for the knock-out stage.
Rublev hit 28 winners to 19 unforced errors.
Rublev earned an early break point with a forehand winner in the opening game. Caruana saved the first chance with his first serve winner, but Rublev converted his second opportunity with another passing shot. Rublev backed up his break with a hold at love. Caruana got his first game on the scoreboard at love. Caruana broke back in the sixth game at 30 to draw level to 3-3 to set up a tie-break, when Rublev was serving for the set.
In the tie-break Caruana got an early mini-break to open up a 2-0 lead in the tie-break. Rublev got back on serve with a return winner and took a 3-2 lead, when Caruana made a forehand error. Rublev earned two set points at 6-4. Caruana saved both chances with a forehand return and an ace to draw level to 6-6. Caruana saved another set point on Rublev’s serve to draw level to 7-7, but Rublev sealed the set by 9-7 on his fourth chance with his backhand.
Rublev faced a break point on the deciding point in the first game of the second set and he saved it with a forehand winner. Rublev rallied from 0-30 down to get the break in the second game with another forehand winner to open up a 2-0 lead. Rublev served well in the rest of the second set to close it out 4-1.
Rublev earned an immediate break in the opening game of the third set on the deciding point and never looked back by holding his three service games to seal the third set 4-2.
“It was a tough match, as I had a lot of pressure. Today I played a completely different performance than yesterday. My attitude was the best out of these three matches. I was focused. I was not complaining. I was trying to fight for every point, because every point cost a lot. I was trying to win every point. I won in three sets. Let’s see how it’s going to happen later. In the match against De Minaur I was completely emotional. I have to be stronger than this, and I left it in the past and just move on. It’s not going to change anything if I am going to watch this evening’s match or not. I am going to do my routine and in the end, we will see what’s going to happen. I am not going to stay for the match. If you want to win matches, you need to be focused and not talk about thing around. Just focus thinking about how to win. In the end you just learn to do it.
Rublev found his rhythm after winnng the crucial tie-break in the first set.
“To be honest, the way I was playing today was the worst level I showed today, but my attitude was double or triple better than in the past matches, so I compensated a little bit. It was tough because I was serving for the set and I made the double fault, and then there was the tie-break. I was just talking to myself. It doesn’t matter. Just fight for myself. You will still have a chance”, said Rublev in the post match interview.