When Daniil Medvedev plays for his first career win over Rafael Nadal in Saturday night's semifinal of the ATP Finals, he won't be dwelling on his last loss.

A year ago, Nadal summoned gladiatorial defiance denying a match point at 1-5 down in the final set subduing Medvedev 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (4) in an ATP Finals round-robin thriller.

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The match was a rematch of the 2019 US Open final that saw Nadal hold off Medvedev's rally in a classic five-set conquest that spanned four hours, 49 minutes.

Medvedev hasn't played Nadal since that London loss last November and says the rematch is a new opportunity. 

6-3, 6-3 "I was close to winning it, but a new match is a new match. It's one year already," Medvedev said. "So even though we all know who is Rafa, everybody changes. So I'm sure he changed few small things in his game. I changed mine. So new match is never the same...

"I'm just looking for tomorrow and not thinking at all about last year, as I say, except some tactical points of view."



The fourth-ranked Russian rolled Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-3, to finish round-robin play as the only undefeated man in the field following Group Tokyo wins over world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and 2018 champion Alexander Zverev.

A year after going winless in London last year, Paris Rolex Masters champion Medvedev rides an eight-match winning streak into his blockbuster rematch with Nadal.

"I enjoy playing Rafa, Novak, and Roger. They are idols of me growing up when I first started to be interested in tennis," Medvedev said. "Basically when I started playing it, Roger was already there I think winning almost everything. Then Rafa came to make his marks, and then Novak came to try to disturb them all the time. So always great to play against them.

"Really looking forward to the match. Feeling confident. I think Rafa is also. Played a great match yesterday. I need to show my best tennis to have the opportunity to win."

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