It’s time to recap The Grandstand‘s Top 10 Matches of the Year, starting with Nos. 6-10. It includes a bizarre French Open semifinal, a fitting end to the season, and a gladiatorial battle worthy of the Roman forum.
10) French Open SF: Dominic Thiem d. Novak Djokovic 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, 5-7, 7-5
In terms of quality, the video of this match may not belong in the Smithsonian. But given the conditions (an incredible amount of wind), both players did extremely well to put on a great show. It was a positively wild one, a five-setter in brutal conditions that lasted two days–suspended due to either wind, rain, darkness, or Djokovic prematurely leaving the grounds…. Nobody can be exactly sure of the reason why it was postponed from Friday to Saturday! Whatever the case, Thiem failed to close out the fourth set upon the resumption of play but managed to survive in five after a total of four hours and 13 minutes.
9) Indian Wells F: Dominic Thiem d. Roger Federer 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
Federer was seeking to go one step further in the desert than he had gone in 2018, when he held multiple championship points against Juan Martin Del Potro only to lose a heartbreaker of a final. The Swiss was a considerable favorite against Thiem, who had never been especially adept on hard courts. But the 2019 Indian Wells Masters proved to be an indicator of things to come on the hard stuff for the Austrian. He stunned Federer in an entertaining three-setter and eventually captured 500-point hard-court titles in Beijing and Vienna in addition to a runner-up performance at the Nitto ATP Finals.
8) Nitto ATP Finals F: Stefanos Tsitsipas d. Dominic Thiem 6-7(6), 6-2, 7-6(4)
Speaking of the Nitto ATP Finals, it produced a fitting end to both the tournament and the season. Entertaining matches were the story of the week in London, and the final was no exception. Thiem defeated both Federer and Djokovic on his way to championship Sunday, while Tsitsipas beat Federer and lost a thriller against Rafael Nadal. In the title match, Thiem survived a barnburner of an opening set only to see Tsitsipas storm back. The Greek eventually triumphed in a third-set tiebreaker after two hours and 36 minutes.
7) Washington SF: Nick Kyrgios d. Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(7)
Not unlike the Acapulco 500 earlier in the season, Kyrgios made the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. one of the most memorable events of 2019. The good Kyrgios was on display almost the entire week, with mostly decent behavior (aside from a few exceptions), outstanding tennis, and fun interactions with the crowd. He even delivered an extra pair of shoes to his opponent–Tsitsipas–during this epic semifinal. Both players won exactly 91 points, so it only made sense that it had to be decided by a final-set ‘breaker. Kyrgios, who struck 19 aces, served just a bit better when it mattered most.
6) Rome QF: Novak Djokovic d. Juan Martin Del Potro 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4
There was not enough Juan Martin Del Potro in our lives throughout this decade and he missed the second half of this year, but he at least managed to make it through the clay-court swing. One especially memorable performance came in Rome, where the Argentine got a look at two match points in the second set before Djokovic recovered to prevail in three hours and one minute. It was the second match of the day for each player during a rain-soaked week, thus ending after midnight on Friday. Del Potro fired 12 aces, double-faulted only once, and saved nine of 11 break points. But it wasn’t quite enough against the No. 1 seed.
thoughts?
Wawrinka d Tsitsipas 4th round RG, instead of Kyrgios – Tsitsipas..IMO, first 5 should be: 5. Tsitsipas d. Federer AO 4th round, 4.Medvedev d. Djokovic SF Cincy, 3. Fed beat Nadal W SF ad, ARGUABLY THE BEST 2 MATCHES OF THE YEAR, IN ANY ORDER: Djokovic d. Fed W F , Nadal d. Medvedev UO F. 🙂 Greetings from Serbia:)
I think the ATP final should be higher , given the occasion and the big three removed.
fair point
IMO the quality wasn’t quite good enough, but yeah it was damn good given the circumstances. Top 10 for sure, maybe top 5.
I don’t think it’s fair to just add the ATP Finals final on the list regardless of its quality (which was low) and interest around it (very low). There were at least three better matches during the tournament (Thiem vs Djokovic, Federer vs Djokovic, Nadal vs Medvedev) if not four (including Nadal vs Tsitsipas). Top 3 against each other or against NextGen is much more interesting than NextGen against each other.
IMO ATP Finals is not that much better than a Masters 1000. Might be actually worse. You don’t necessarily have the most in-form players of the moment and on the surface. In a Masters 1000 QFs the quality can be much better. Some of the year end top 8 might have gotten there by having a really good week (or month) at some point during the season. Also the players are rather tired at the end of the season.
However, including a Rome QF match and a Washington SF one on this list is weird. Few people were interested in those matches and much fewer actually watched them.
So either don’t take into account the tournament (and don’t include the ATP Finals final which was at most average) or don’t include matches below Masters 1000 finals (okay, maybe SFs if they involve two of the top 3).
I couldn’t care less how many people were interested in a match/tournament or not. That doesn’t change the quality of a match.
ATP Finals this year was incredible.
There is nothing weird about including a QF of a Masters or a semis of a 500. Hell, two of the best matches of the year were the third round of a Masters (Indian Wells) and the second round of a 500 (Acapulco).
I know the top 2…djoko fed wimby 2019 final and Nadal Medvedev USO final..don’t think anyone will not keep the above 2 as top 2 ..order may change based on whose fan you are 🙂
I think Ricky’s top 5 will include Thiem djoko wtf too ..maybe Nadal Medvedev wtf n wawrinka tsitsipas RG fourth round
By chance I saw that Tiggy picked his matches of the decade which has fed Nole wimby this year as #1 with Rafa Nole AO 2012 #2 and Nole Wawa at AO #3
Dunno what I think of that. Rafa Nole RG 2013 surely deserves a shout out as does Rafa Nole at wimby last year. Both were very high quality matches only decided deep in the fifth set.
The fact that Nole appears in so many matches, frequently winning them, does underline his status as player of the decade.
Not wishing to reopen wounds about the dratted closed roof at the rafole wimby semi, but I only just realised that if Rafa has won it he and Nole would both be tied on 14 slam wins for the decade. This is pretty astonishing given the amount of time Rafa spent out injured. That wimby result turned out to be very significant..# Open the damn roof!
Also if Rafa had won that match he would very likely have finished the year #1.
well he finished this year #1, so no worries
Now then you realised that?
I was so pissed because of that, knowing the significance of that match (win) and it’s effect on the YE no.1 ranking. Had Rafa won that match, he would be YE no.1 and so he would then have six YE no.1 by now, and he instead of Djoko would have five YE no.1 , tied with 14 slam title wins in this decade. People would then argue who’s the best player this decade (even though I still think Djoko is the best this decade because of what other important titles he has won – more Masters, four WTFs, more titles won in the decade etc).
Well it’s not meant to be for Rafa and Djoko deserves the best player of this decade title.
The top 2 are almost too obvious-
I guess we have to look at the overall match quality not just the performance of one player,
..so that could rule out the AO semis and final,for example.The Fed-Tsitsi match was close but I didn’t see it.
Wawrinka-Tsitsi at RG stands out.
RG was disappointing overall because of the weather.
The weather is the same for both players, its all a matter of whom handles it better, Thiem did, Nole didnt simple as, you cant help the weather, but as Amy says you can open the dratted roof lol, Wimbledon is after all a dratted outdoor tournament lol ….
Conditions are always same for both players .
Who cares if Novak is the best player of the decade, i think Rafa fans can sleep soundly in their beds knowing that our guy has 19 GS , and that counts way more, only 1 guy has more, and only 1 more, IMO Federer needs to win the AO to widen the gap between him and Rafa, Novak winning it wont do him any favours either, also Rafa will obviously be the favourite at the FO, and if he wins that then hes tied, personally i want Federers legacy to be put under threat from Rafa, which hes never realistically had till now, and for Rafa to win the AO, and or the FO, because it will make tennis next year exciting, and add another scenario to the GOAT debate, Novak and Rafa winning the first two GS next year between them, puts pressure on Federer at next years Wimbledon, bring it on ….
yeah i don’t get what the big deal is about an arbitrary Player of the Decade award.