Tennis: Presenting the best matches of 2021 (men's singles)

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Parth Dhall

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Published on Dec 10, 2021, 03:23 pm

The 2021 ATP Tour ended with world number three Alexander Zverev winning the ATP Finals. He beat Russia's Daniil Medvedev, whose unbeaten run in the year-end championships ended. Zverev had earlier defeated world number Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals. The duo also met at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics where Zverev overcame the Serbian (semi-finals). Here are the best ATP matches of the season.

The 2021 ATP Tour was majorly dominated by Zverev, Medvedev, and Djokovic. The trio was involved in some of the memorable matches of the 2021 season. Medvedev finished as the ATP Tour leader in terms of wins (63-13), while Zverev won the most titles (6). Meanwhile, Djokovic finished as the top-ranked player in the ATP Rankings for a record-breaking seventh time.

In June, legends Djokovic and Rafael Nadal played out one of the most enthralling matches of 2021. The Serbian beat Nadal in what turned out to be a historic semi-final at Roland Garros. Djokovic defeated the 13-time Roland Garros winner 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-2 after over four hours. Djokovic became the first-ever player to beat Nadal more than once at French Open.

Medvedev thrashed Djokovic 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to win the US Open. The latter was 0-4 down in the third set. The Russian denied Djokovic the historic Calendar-Year Slam. Djokovic, who was also chasing his 21st major title, could have broken a tie with Roger Federer and Nadal. Medvedev became the third Russian after Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin to win a Grand Slam.

Djokovic outplayed Medvedev to win a record-extending sixth Paris Masters title in November. The Serbian captured his 37th Masters 1000 title with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over the world number two. Djokovic broke a tie with Nadal. Notably, Djokovic and Medvedev met in their third final of the season. Earlier in the season, the former defeated Medvedev to win the Australian Open.

Zverev stunned Djokovic in the semi-final clash at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Despite going down in the first set, Zverev launched a superb fightback to seal the deal from thereon. Zverev, who won 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, ended Djokovic's quest of winning his maiden Olympic gold. The latter was eyeing a Career Golden Slam (winning four majors and Olympic gold in the same year).

World number four Stefanos Tsitsipas entered his maiden Grand Slam final after defeating rival Zverev in the semi-final of the 2021 French Open. The Greek player won the epic encounter 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3 despite losing two sets. The match featured the youngest semi-finalists at a Grand Slam since Andy Murray (22) defeated Marin Cilic (21) at the Australian Open in 2010.