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.
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.
More AP Tennis: https://www.apnews.com/apf-Tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports