Without fail, the year-end championship brings plenty of intrigue at the end of every tennis season. How could it not? After all, it is the top eight players in the world going head-to-head against each other match after match.
Over the past five years or so, those matches had become largely unwatchable. Straight-set beatdown after straight-set beatdown was often the story, starting in round-robin play and continuing even into semis and finals. Heck, even Andy Murray once got erased 6-0, 6-1 by Roger Federer (2014 round-robin). The championship match did not even take place that year, as Federer withdrew due to a back injury prior to facing Novak Djokovic.
There were, of course, some exceptions. Federer vs. Stan Wawrinka in the 2014 semis was a huge story for various reasons. Murray’s thrilling semifinal win over Milos Raonic in 2016 was one of the most dramatic contests in recent memory–not simply at the Nitto ATP Finals–and it kept the Scot in contention to finish that year No. 1 in the world (he eventually did, beating Djokovic in the final). Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin put on a good show in a surprising 2017 title tilt.
But when you can count on one hand the number of thrillers in a span of five-plus years, a tournament has problems.
There are problems no more.
The 2019 installment of the Nitto ATP Finals delivered the goods from start to finish. In round-robin competition, a trio of battles went to three sets, another saw Dominic Thiem beat Federer 7-5, 7-5, and one other produced an amazing display by Federer to defeat Djokovic and clinch the year-end No. 1 ranking for Rafael Nadal. Thiem’s 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(5) victory over the second-ranked Serb two days earlier was arguably the best ATP match (non-Grand Slam) of the entire season. Nadal’s shocking recovery from 1-5, 30-40 down against Daniil Medvedev to prevail 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-6(4) was probably the comeback of the year. Nadal beating Stefanos Tsitsipas–the eventual champion–via a 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5 scoreline was also one of the most entertaining three-setters of 2019. The week ended in incredibly appropriate fashion, too, as a third-set tiebreaker had to decide the title between Tsitsipas and Thiem. It was the 21-year-old Greek who finally triumphed 6-7(6), 6-2, 7-6(4).
“I played this legendary match against Novak,” Thiem reflected upon the conclusion of his tournament. “It’s a very disappointing loss (in the final); very hard to digest. But [at the same time] I had some amazing wins also; they get me in this situation even to play the finals.”
Perhaps we should have seen amazing matches coming. After all, the season was a fun one from start to finish. Djokovic and Nadal, who recovered from various physical problems much faster than usual, split the four slams to cement their statuses alongside Federer in GOAT discussions. Federer came within one point–twice–of taking down Djokovic in a historic Wimbledon final. Thiem and Medvedev took turns finishing runner-up at majors (the French Open and U.S. Open, respectively). Medvedev’s summer run, especially, has people excited for the young generation’s future–and present, for that matter–potential.
“It seems like me, Novak, and Rafa are healthy; healthier than maybe in previous years,” Federer said following his semifinal loss to Tsitsipas inside the O2 Arena. “[The younger players] have proven their point this year by qualifying for the [ATP] Finals…. Dominic, what he showed again at this [ATP] Finals (and also) winning five titles, beating all of us top guys….”
If the year-end championship was a bright spot on the 2019 tennis calendar, the future is even brighter. It bodes well for 2020, when this event takes place in London one final time before moving to Turin, Italy. With only 12 months to go, get your popcorn ready!
2020 in general should be good
Imagine the conversations if or when Rafa ties Roger on GS hmm ….
N that will be even more dramatic if Rafa beats roger in title match to capture no 20…any odds of it happening at ao 2020 ?
Ricky, I agree that 2019 was a great and slightly crazy season!
While the Big Three (again) bagged all the slams and (again) topped the rankings, they won a lot less tournaments than in previous seasons. I’m still marvelling how on earth Rafa managed to take over the year-end pole position by winning only four trophies! He was also seriously injured just before the clay season, where he underperformed according to his lofty standards, and then missed the complete Asian swing because he was getting married. But interestingly he was also by far the most stable player of the season. Whenever he showed up he delivered the goods and went deep into the draw. And he did well on all surfaces. It may be the first time in his career that his non-clay results were as good as his results on the red dirt!
But this year some members of the next generation looked really good – outside of the slams – and scored quite a few signature wins over the Big Three. I’m fairly sure that this trend will continue in 2020. And while the Russian genes seem to be extremely dominant within the next generation (Medvedev, Rublev, Khachanov, Zverev, Shapovalov, Tsitsipas 😉) their personalities, playing styles and backgrounds are all very different. It’s intriguing to follow their respective progress and I’m looking forward to see how they will acquit themselves in 2020. Is anyone of them ready for the next big step and can the stranglehold of the Big Three on the slams be broken? They still have to learn how to cope with the best-of-five format, which isn’t easy these days because there are no more best-of-five events outside of the slams. It used to be different more than a decade ago. All Davis Cup matches were best-of-five. And quite a few Masters 1000 finals as well as the year-end championship were best-of-five. I think it is a great loss, but I understand why nowadays we only see best-of-five matches at the slams. But Fed and Rafa had more opportunities to learn how to cope with best-of-five early in their careers. And Novak only became an irresistable force after he overcame his lack of stamina. But at least Thiem, Medvedev and Tsitsipas seem to be ready for coping with best-of-five.
So, we have an intriguing mix of youngsters to follow in 2020. But there’s also the never ending narrative of the still ongoing GOAT race between Fed, Rafa and Novak. Since they won’t play forever the finish line is clearly in sight now, and the race has never been closer – especially after Rafa is only one slam title behind Roger’s haul, and he has also caught up with Fed and Novak as far as the number of year-end No 1 trophies are concerned. It’s not at all unlikely that next year Rafa will manage to equal Roger’s slam record. But it’s also not totally impossible that Novak might catch up with Rafa if he manages to go into terminator mode again – although the former is more likely than the latter. I fully believe that Novak will win some more slams. But with the youngsters getting better and better, it’s unlikely that the Big Three will dominate the slams again in the upcoming season. I have a hunch that Rafa and Novak will have to move fast if they want to catch up with Fed, since the gap between the Big Three and the young guns is closing. Many experts voiced the opinion that Rafa will definitely win a few more RG trophies in the coming years and that it is inevitable that he will catch up with or overtake Fed. It’s a possibility – but I’m not so sure. While Rafa’s outlandish clay court prowess isn’t in doubt, we can’t know how his body will hold up. Even this year he barely managed to peak for RG. He himself had serious doubts for a while and even contemplated to shut down the season. He will be 34 years old when the next RG trophy will be presented, and he is already the oldest year-end No 1 in the history of tennis. Btw, the oldest FO champion was the Spaniard Andres Gimeno in 1972. He was 34 years and 301 days old when he hoisted the trophy. Rafa needs to break a few more records in order to win more than one FO title in the upcoming years.
I think that we should celebrate and cherish the Big Three in the next season because the end of their era is near…
Sanju lol love for him to have a crack at that, cant speak for them , but some wont take too kindly to it , and will probably hate that happening, imagine the commontators the Federer luvies lol, but the ones that are fans of Federer rather than his records will be cool with it, interesting times 🙂
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.express.co.uk/sport/tennis/1207158/Roger-Federer-Rafael-Nadal-2019-season-Davis-Cup-exhibition/amp
Fed said in interview that Rafa will go down as greatest of all time. Wow. Is he just being polite or serious about it..
Both. Fed threw a “maybe” in there! (Quite correctly, of course.)