If this was the wildest roller-coaster ride of a tournament that the Nitto ATP Finals has experienced since it moved to London in 2009, it ended in appropriate fashion.
Stefanos Tsitsipas outlasted Dominic Thiem in a back-and-forth 6-7(6), 6-2, 7-6(4) thriller after two hours and 35 minutes on Sunday evening. Tsitsipas recovered from a tough first set to dominate the second and the righted the ship late in the third after giving back a break midway through it, thus capturing by far the biggest title of his short but sweet career.
“Firstly, I was excited to be part of the Nitto Finals experience. For me, it was already a big thing. Now that I’m a champion, I don’t know how to explain it. I honestly don’t feel anything, because it’s too many emotions to feel something…. I remember myself watching this event on TV and thinking, ‘Oh, these guys have done an insane year to be playing here.’ And now I’m in the position to be champion, so it feels awesome.”
Either player could have been the last man standing with that feeling, as this was a tense one right from the start until the very end. Both players managed to hold serve all the way to a first-set tiebreaker–but not without trouble. Thiem saved three break points, one at 1-2 and two at 3-4, all with clean winners. The Austrian also recovered from 0-30 down at 5-6 to force the ‘breaker. Tsitsipas dug out of a hole at 3-3, fighting off one break point with a second-serve serve-and-volley and a second with a perfect backhand volley. The latter point was replayed after a Tsitsipas forehand had been called long to apparently give Thiem the break, but replay showed it to have clipped the line.
After earning one mini-break apiece, Tsitsipas shanked a backhand long on serve at 6-6. Thiem promptly closed out the opening frame of play with a service winner.
Plenty of momentum swings remained, and Tsitsipas was quick to turn things around in his favor right away in set two. The 21-year-old broke easily for 1-0 and again for 3-0, leaving Thiem to start mentally preparing for a decider. It was a decider that came quickly, as Tsitsipas surrendered a mere a two service points in the entire second set.
For a brief moment it looked like the world No. 6 would race through the third, as well. He broke in the third game and soon led 3-1, putting himself three games from the championship. With the finish line in sight, Tsitsipas finally cracked on serve for the first time all evening and was broken at 3-2 with a backhand wide. From there both men held their service nerves in impressive fashion to bring up another tiebreaker.
It was once again Thiem who battled back from the brink of defeat. The 26-year-old lost two straight service points at 1-2 and 1-3 only to get both of the mini-breaks back on Tsitsipas’ serve. Starting at 4-4, however, it was Tsitsipas who stayed strong and induced a trio of errors out of his opponent. One final forehand long left Thiem on his bench with his head buried in a towel and Tsitsipas sprawled on the ground in blissful disbelief.
“Probably, yes,” Thiem said when asked if this was the most painful loss of his career. “It’s not the end of the world, because I always think back on some matches in the past, like also in the last weeks, and I won some really close matches…to even get myself to the situation to play [this final].
“It’s always going to be like that in tennis; that’s why it’s probably mentally the most brutal sport existing, because you can play such a great match and end up losing in the championship match. From that point of view, it’s a very disappointing loss; very hard to digest. But on the same hand, I had some amazing wins also–even this week–that they get me in this situation even to play the finals. So it’s fine.”
As Thiem suggested, he had already played a part in great shows inside the O2 Arena while beating both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. He did so again on Sunday with Tsitsipas, who first met his now-rival as a hitting partner at this event in 2016.
“That is unbelievable,” the champion said upon being reminded of what took place three years ago. “Yeah, first time I met Dominic was I came here as a sparring partner; was No. 1-ranked in the juniors rankings. I got invited by the ITF to come and be a sparring partner here in the finals. I think my first hit was with Dominic.
“It’s unbelievable, isn’t it? We are now facing each other in the final. It’s great. It’s fantastic.”
And it’s fantastic for the post-Big 3 future of tennis.
[polldaddy poll=10460740]
congrats, Stef
Thanks, Ricky, for a great recap of this exciting final.
I really enjoyed this year’s WTF. So many great roller coaster matches. And so many wins by the youngsters over the Big Three! Thiem, who would’ve fully deserved the title, too, won his matches against Fed and Novak, Tsitsipas vanquished Fed, and Zverev prevented Rafa from reaching the semis. We truly saw the future of tennis without the domination of the Big Three. And it looked pretty good.
Then there was the equally exciting subplot of who would go home as the best player of 2019. And this storyline still featured two of the Big Three and and two of the three best players in the history of tennis. And by winning this race Rafa became once more the oldest player ever to sit at the pole position at the end of the year. Rafa also caught up with Fed and Novak and has now also five year-end No.1 trophies. The three-way race between Fed, Novak and Rafa for becoming the GOAT has never been tighter.
After wins of Murray (2016), Dimitrov (2017), Zverev (2018) and Tsitsipas (2019) it has been the fourth time in a row now that none of the Big Three won the WTF trophy. This year none of them even made it into the final, and only Fed reached the semis. This feels like a pretty significant development. And while the overall domination of the Big Three is far from over as a look at the rankings shows, it might indicate that for a while now the slams have been the most important tournaments for the Big Three and again they capured all of them. But since they are definitely getting older and therefore have to manage their physical resources prudently, they might now have less in their tanks at the end of the season, and this increases the chance of the youngsters to pounce at the season-ending WTF. This year neither Rafa nor Novak were at their physical peak and Roger – well, he’s 38 years old now, and while he’s still a formidable player, his age started to become an important part of the conversation. Now there always seems to be one player who can get the better of him and while he was tantalyzingly close in the Wimby final, it hast become difficult for him to capture the most important titles.
It will be interesting to see how the younger generation will fare at the slams in the upcoming season. The biggest titles have still eluded them. They still seem to have difficulties with best-of-five matches, because this format increases the chances for the more experienced players to turn around a match, and only Thiem and Medvedev managed to reach a slam final this year. They acquitted themselves very well, though, and made it a worthy competition. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if one of the younger generation will finally manage to break through the Big Three domination and will win one of the biggest titles. I think that their best chances are at the two hardcourt slams. The FO and Wimby may still be too difficult for them if the Big Three are fully fit.
Stands to reason that someone other than the Big Three will eventually win a major. Two of the majors this year featured a younger finalist and Thiem actually managed to get a set from Rafa at RG! Tsitsipas lost a really close match to Wawrinka at RG and beat Roger at AO so he might be getting there.
Not reading much into WTF. Fed hasn’t won it in donkey’s years and Djoker not since 2015. Rafa never. *Somebody’s* got to win the thing. Maybe the significant part is that aside from the Big Three only “younger” guys made it into the Top 8. No Delpo, no Stan, no Cilic, no Dimitrov. All of them, as yet, better players than any of the NextGen but just not healthy enough to compete this past year and maybe never again.
I beg to differ: I do believe that the WTF is an important tournament for several reasons. And I think that Rafa’s failure to win the trophy at least once is indeed a small hole in his otherwise exceptional resummee – just like Roger’s and Novak’s failure to win an Olympic gold medal.
The WTF has sometimes been called the fifth slam, since in a best-case scenario the winner gets 1500 points and every opponent is a top 8 player. While it is possible with a bit of luck to win a slam without having to play a top ten player, at the WTF there are no easy opponents. Also, the outcome of the WTF often determins who will be the year-end No.1 player. The tournament felt even more important when the final was a best-of-five match. I have always regretted the change to a best-of-three final. IMO it diminished the event a bit. But the attitude of the players themselves shows that the participation is still a very important goal and an honor for them, and in the preceding tournaments they try to give their very best in order to make the cut.
But since the WTF is such an important goal, I think it’s very regrettable that the surface is invariably indoor hardcourt. The surfaces should rotate. But I guess that it will never happen since the WTF has such a long tradition as an indoor hardcourt event, except for a short stint in Houston, where the matches were played on an outdoor hardcourt.
Only two excellent clay court specialists have ever managed to win the trophy: Alex Corretja in 1998 and Guga Kuerten in 2000 in Lissabon, where he sensationally managed to beat excellent indoor hardcourt players like Sampras and Agassi on his way to the title, and in a last ditch effort which had been deemed impossible, he also took the No.1 ranking from Safin. It was a super exciting tournament with a very surprising outcome.
I think the significance of this year’s event was that none of the Big Three made the final and only Fed reached the semis. Since 2003 this has happened only twice (2009 and 2017)! These statistics of only three players dominating an event for 16 years are truly mindboggling.Therefore this year’s edition might finally signal the beginning of a new era – especially since the five participants who don’t belong to the Big Three are all next-generation players who haven’t been around for a long time. And Tsitsipas is the youngest winner since Lleyton Hewitt in 2002. That said, the youngsters still need to make a significant impact at the slams, where they need to master best-of-five matches.
Where is the Davis Cup thread?
New format, and I’m watching so many of the top players being involved – Rafa, Djoko, Berrettini, Foggy, the French players, the Americans, the Russians minus Medvedev, the young Canadians….
Hope it turns out nice.
People seem to have forgotten about murray who is getting back to form having one a tournament. Won’t be surprised if the big 5 (murray, djoko, rafa, stan and federer) dominate the slams next year. Stan at his best can blow anyone off the court. If he finds his form like he did in 2015 and 2016, he can win a slam again next year. Stan at his best is better than any of the next gen. Hope murray can find his best form too because he is a terrific tennis palyer when he brings his A game. Imagine if both stan and murray find their best form next year and del potro too, 2020 will make for some exciting tennis.
Not going to happen. Stan, Murray and Delpo, next year they’re another year into their thirties – 35, 33 and 32 respectively – they may be blown away by Thiem, Medvedev and Sasha, their respective younger versions who are hitting their prime.
I see Rafa, should he maintains such good form and lucky enough not to get injured, may be the one dominating for maybe the last year (or lucky enough again for another after next year).
Djoko may or may not challenge Rafa, it depends on his elbow, shoulder whatever. The desire is there but it seems his body is also failing him more and more often.
As for Fed, the AO and Wimbledon are his best chances but has to depend whether he runs into a red hot Stefanos or Thiem!
I think it’s in 2021 and onwards that the next gen will take over.
I’d say Wimbledon/AO are his *only* realistic chances at this point. I don’t think he’ll win another slam, but I’ve been wrong before.
AO: I think he’s a chance here, but he’s more at risk now with players like Tsitsipas and even Thiem on a good day. Stefanos should be a big threat, this court suits his game nicely. Djoko probably the favourite again. Rafa, Medvedev and Zverev are also around the mark.
FO: Rafa should still be right up there. I expect Thiem to be his nearest competitor, he’s getting closer each year. Djoker is an outside chance, but I really see this as a Rafa/Thiem affair, barring injuries. I think Wawrinka’s best is behind him now, but I could still see him making a good run.
Wimbledon: I think the next gen have been slow to adjust to grass so far. This is clearly Fed’s best chance. Djoko may come in as favourite, Rafa could also threaten.
US Open: By this point in the year the injuries often have a big impact, so it’s a hard thing to predict. The court is just too slow for Fed now, but Djoko and Rafa will probably go very far if fit. From the next gen I’d be predicting Medvedev for another deep run. Thiem should do well.
There should be at least one new slam winner (maybe two), but I agree that the next gen isn’t quite ready to ‘take over’ in 2020.
Lucky, I agree. I don’t think that Wawa, Delpo and Murray have chances to win any big titles. Won’t happen, although they may make a splash here and there at smaller events. There’s too much competition from all sides.
As to the Big Three – it’s very hard to say. If Rafa somehow manages to preserve his form of the past season and doesn’t get injured too often, he should be a co-favorite at all events where he shows up and of course especially on clay and at the FO. The same is true for Novak, but I’m not sure how his body will hold up. His form clearly dipped considerably after Wimby and he seemed to have physical problems for the rest of the season although he tried to play it down. I even believe that Fed could only beat him so decisively in London because Novak wasn’t in tip-top shape. Fed may have looked so good because Novak wasn’t fully there. We have to wait and see if Novak manages to recover in time for the AO. If he does recover he’s of course one of the prime favorites in Australia.
I think from now on the health and the age of the Big Three will become a big part of the conversation whenever they play. And since the next generation has become better and is more confident and more experienced, they will definitely get their chances. Thiem, Medvedev, Zverev, and Tsitsipas all have scored quite a few wins over the Big Three in the past two seasons. They have the believe now that they can do it. But they still have to learn that you need to win seven best-of-five matches in a row in order to win a slam trophy. They have to show up from the very beginning and cannot afford to lose in the early rounds against lesser players as it happened too often in the past season.
I have a hunch that the upcoming season may the last one where the old guard will still be able to stay on top – barely. And while they still dominated the ranking this year, the Big Three won far less tournaments than in the past. Rafa managed to clinch the year-end No 1 ranking while winning only four (!) trophies: Rome, the FO, Montreal and the USO. That’s a lot less trophies than in all other years where he secured the top ranking. Novak won only five tournaments.
Some experts predicted that Novak will most likely be able to catch up with Roger’s and Rafa’s slam count because he’s the youngest of the Big Three and will therefore be able to dominate for a few more years. I’m not so sure. His will power and ambition is undeniable and I would be surprised if he doesn’t win a few more slams. But his style of play is taxing and I’m not so sure anymore if he can sustain his dominance as he did when he was a few years younger.
As to Fed: I think that only at Wimby he has a realistic chance of winning another slam. Heck, he almost won this year! I see Fed winning another title in Halle and in Basel and doing well at Wimby. But elsewhere there always seems to be a player these days who gets the better of him. Even Fed cannot beat the most relentless of all opponents – age – forever.
Agree with Luckystar and littlefoot about the big three and the progression of Thiem, Medvedev, Tsitsipas — maybe Sascha will find his game (big if). Then there’s Shapovalov – he did progress I thought this fall with Youzhny on his team. And we can’t forget FAA and Sinner – Sinner is 6’2 and still growing – he trained hard from a young age to be a junior alpine skiing champion and he’s carried that balance and ambition into his tennis game. He’s an impressive athlete.
Elizabeth, I have to find out more about Jannik Sinner. He is a very intriguing athlet. I didn’t know about his prowess in alpine skiing! But it does make sense. He’s from South Tirol after all, which belongs to the alpine regions of Italy and is very beautiful. I have been there this summer! The predominant language is German and kids learn how to ski as soon as they are old enough to walk☺ You learn how to balance your body. This might be very helpful for future tennis players, although most of the pros stop skiing because of well founded injury concerns.
Interesting LS, the younger version – I agree with your comparisons. I used to comparer Thiem with Gasquet , but he’s much more like Stan now .Tsitsi is obviously most like Fed, but the new Nadal? Maybe De Minaur , but he doesn’t have the muscle !
*having WON a tournament
Steph….way to go!!!!