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In hockey, a two-goal lead is often referred to as the most dangerous lead in the sport. The team in front can become too comfortable, and lose the urgency it might feel if it led by just one goal.

After Wednesday's round-robin match at the ATP Finals between Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev, should we say that a double-break lead is the most dangerous lead in tennis?

Leading the world No. 1 by scores of 4-0 and 5-1 in the third set, Medvedev capitulated, a combination of Nadal's signature relentlessness and the 23-year-old's own undoing. This was vintage Rafa—he saved a match point at 1-5, then took the next five games—but it was also modern-day Rafa, the same player who overwhelmed Medvedev in the Montreal final and held off the Russian's comeback bid in five sets to win the US Open.

With his 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (4) win, Nadal keeps his title hopes alive in London, at an event that has flummoxed him throughout his otherwise impeccable career.

Down a double break and match point, Nadal rallies past Medvedev

Down a double break and match point, Nadal rallies past Medvedev

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It’s no secret that Nadal has struggled to adapt to the season-ending championships. Having reached just one final, in 2013, the 19-time Grand Slam champion entered this edition of the ATP Finals hoping to flip the proverbial script. But while indoor hard courts and toll of an 11-month season remain bugaboos for the world No. 1, it was his opponent who proved to be his biggest obstacle for much of this match.

Medvedev's signature power and consistency were too much for Nadal's agility and experience in the early going. Both players were feeling a sense of urgency, fighting for court positioning and looking to assert themselves in a match when only offense would do. There was only one break point in the first set, which Nadal erased in a 35-shot rally. In the tiebreak, it was Medvedev who pulled ahead, converting his first set point to take a one-set lead.

After a bathroom break, Nadal's halted Medvedev's momentum by claiming the first two games of the second set. A second break in the ninth game gave Rafa a lifeline, sending the match to a third-set decider.

From there, Medvedev bounced back to go up 4-0, with Nadal appearing hopeless, struggling to find his range. But the contest morphed from a blowout to a bonanza once Rafa finally got on the board. It's not hard to draw a line to Medvedev's recent shortcomings against Nadal and say that they were a factor. It's not wrong to say that Medvedev's own errors and mistakes were what turned the tenor.

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But ultimately, this match was about Nadal winning it, rather than Medvedev losing it. The final-set tiebreaker was defined more by its winners than its errors, even if the final, stinging shot by Medvedev was a miss.

”I’ve been super lucky,” Nadal said. “Sorry for Daniil. It’s a tough loss. He was playing much better than me in the third set. It’s one of these days, one out of 1,000, where you win.

”I know from my personal experience how tough it is to close out matches, especially when you have two breaks in front and you lose the first one. [At 3-5], I thought I had a chance. I think I was a little bit better in the end. In general terms, I think I was playing much better than two days ago, so that’s a very positive thing for me.”

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On Friday, Medvedev will take on defending champion Alexander Zverev, who plays Stefanos Tsitsipas later today. Meanwhile, Nadal will face Tsitsipas; he leads the young Greek 4-1 in their head-to-head series.