ATP Finals: 'I Got Lucky,' Nadal Says After Pulling Off A Stunning Win To Stay Alive In London

Rafael Nadal said he got "lucky" as he pulled off a stunning victory over Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday to stay alive at ATP Finals 2019.

The World No. 1 once again showed hard work always pays off. Nadal is known for fighting for every point and from 5-1 down, he produced an unbelievable comeback in the deciding set to defeat the Russian 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-4).

Nadal was also glad that he had improved after losing in straight sets to defending champion Alexander Zverev in his opening match of the ATP Finals 2019.

Describing his spectacular victory over the Russian on Wednesday, Nadal said," I have been better than the other day, of course. I have been playing a better level of tennis than the first day in general terms. Then winning this match is a combination of a lot of things: [being] lucky, some mistakes of Daniil, some good moments of myself at the end. Knowing that I was not able to practice the way that I would like before the tournament, be able to increase the level since two days ago to today like this is a very positive thing and I'm very happy with this. Winning or losing is another story."

The World No. 1 player suggested that he was happy with the way he served against Medvedev. "Today the serve worked well again. I'm happy with it. I think that the beginning of the third I was two breaks down, but I didn't play that bad. Just a couple of points there, and he played well and I made a couple of mistakes," Nadal added.

The Spaniard was soon to acknowledge Medvedev's efforts as he admitted that he felt bad for the latter but the Russian must be very "proud about all the things that he's doing".

"Daniil is super tough mentally. He showed everybody during all this year what he achieved. If you are not able to be very solid mentally, it’s impossible, honestly. Today is one of these days that one time of 1,000 you lose this match, and it happened today. Very happy about that. Very sorry for him, honestly, because losing a match like this is tough, and it's painful. I feel very sorry for Daniil. He's a good guy, I think, and anyway, he should be very proud of all the things that he's doing," Nadal told ATP after clinching a superb victory in Group Andre Agassi.

Nadal, who is also aiming to hold on with the No. 1 ranking, could have been eliminated on Wednesday had he lost to Medvedev. However, even now his fate is not in his hands. While he has to defeat Tsitsipas on Friday, he also needs Alexander Zverev to lose to Medvedev on the same day.