Nadal, Federer win in 3 sets at ATP finals

LONDON (AP) ― Rafael Nadal toiled for nearly three hours before beating Mardy Fish of the United States 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (3) at the ATP World Tour Finals on Sunday, while Roger Federer also needed three sets to win his opening match.

Defending champion Federer began his quest for a record sixth title at the season-ending event by defeating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.

In a tense evening match at London’s O2 Arena, Fish recovered from a nervous opening set in his debut at the tournament and saved two match points at 5-4 down in the third set, but Nadal captured the victory in the tiebreaker.

Group A begins Monday with Andy Murray facing David Ferrer, and top-seeded Novak Djokovic against Tomas Berdych.

By the time Nadal and Fish walked off court at gone 11:30 p.m. local time on the opening day of the tournament, many of the 17,000-strong crowd had already left to catch the last train home.

Their match mirrored the earlier one between Federer and Tsonga. Federer and Nadal both dominated the opening set only to lose the momentum early in the second set.

Tsonga dramatically wilted when serving to stay in the match at 5-4 in the decider, while several poorly hit forehands in the tiebreaker did Fish in.

Federer and Nadal now will play each other for the 26th time, continuing their long rivalry Tuesday. Federer beat the Spaniard in last year’s final but has lost their three meetings in 2011.

Fish, who qualified for the eight-player tournament for the first time at the age of 29, arrived in London with concerns about a hamstring injury, while Nadal was back in action after a five-week break.

Nadal made Fish wait in his chair as he had his finger taped by the trainer after the warmup and the American made a nervous start as he dropped serve in the opening game.

After dominated the opening set, Fish found his range on his forehand and, combining it with some deft volleys and delicate drop shots, the eighth-seeded American took the match into a decider.