RAFAEL NADAL is OUT of the ATP Finals after Alexander Zverev beat Daniil Medvedev.
It means fans will have to wait until next year to see the 41st clash between Nadal and old rival Roger Federer.
Nadal beat Stefanos Tsitsipas earlier to put himself in contention of progressing, after losing to Zverev and coming back to conquer Medvedev.
And he knew he would face Federer in the semi-finals tomorrow afternoon – but only if Medvedev could claim his first ever ATP Finals win when he took on Zverev.
The defending champion, though, prevailed 6-4 7-6 in just 78 minutes.
Zverev put his poor performance against Tsitsipas from Wednesday night behind him and broke in the very first game of the match.
From there he did not even face break point as he closed out the first set and then was taken to a tie-break in the second.
So Zverev is the last man to qualify for the semi-finals and will take on Dominic Thiem tomorrow evening.
Before that, Tsitsipas faces Federer in a repeat of the Australian Open fourth-round clash.
The Greek youngster came out on top that day but Federer has won their two meetings since to head the head-to-head 2-1.
In fact, both times the Swiss legend has beaten Tsitsipas, he has won the title – in Dubai and Basel this year.
But fans desperate to see Nadal and Federer go into battle yet again were left disappointed.
Many were desperate for Medvedev to see off Zverev but the Russian played the pantomime villain and failed to deliver.
STILL THE KING
However, Nadal still ends the season as the world No1 despite being knocked out.
Federer’s revenge win over Djokovic sealed the gong for the Spaniard, who moved level with the pair and Jimmy Connors by achieving the feat for the fifth time.
Pete Sampras holds the record with six years as the year-end No1.
Nadal received the trophy from outgoing ATP chief Chris Kermode after his win over Tsitsipas and said: Its a real honour to receive this trophy.
I am super happy. After all the things I went through in my career with injuries, I never thought at 33-and-a-half I would have this trophy in my hands again.
Its something really emotional for me, a lot of work, in the shadows to be where we are today and without all my team and family next to me, this thing would be impossible. Thank you for the support.
Midway through his speech,Nadalhad to put the weighty, gleaming silverware back on its plinth it was too heavy cue laughter from those inside the O2 Arena that stuck around to watch the ceremony.
In fairness to him, he had just finished his mammoth match with Tsitsipas which lasted a gruelling two hours and 52 minutes the longest match of theATP Finals.
Nadal continued: There have been some bad moments and you have always been there.
Like this year before Monte Carlo, without the support of all these people to my left things would have been different. They encourage me to keep going. This trophy is an achievement for all the year round.
I have to say because its something I feel from the bottom of my heart, thank you to all the fans around the world whenever I play.
