Tsitsipas fights back to beat Thiem
and claim ATP Finals title
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[November 18, 2019]
By Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) - Stefanos Tsitsipas
confirmed his meteoric rise into the highest echelon of men's tennis
by battling back to beat Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-7(6) 6-2 7-6(4) in
a compelling title duel at the ATP Finals on Sunday.
The 21-year-old debutant, the youngest of the eight qualifiers for
the elite season-ender at the O2 Arena, displayed resilience and
flair in equal measure to become the youngest champion since Lleyton
Hewitt in 2001.
Thiem edged an intense first set full of powerful baseline rallies
but Tsitsipas, the first Greek player to qualify for the ATP's blue-riband
event, was undaunted and responded in style.
As Thiem's level dipped, Tsitsipas surged into a 4-0 lead in the
second set and then led 3-1 in the decider.
Twice French Open runner-up Thiem was not finished though and fought
back to take the match into a tiebreak.
World number six Tsitsipas, the crowd favorite, led 4-1 but was
pegged back to 4-4 before reeling off the last three points, sealing
victory when Thiem ballooned a forehand wide.
It is the fourth successive year the tournament has had a first-time
winner and incredibly it is just one year since Tsitsipas won the
NextGen Finals title for the best up-and-coming players on the men's
Tour.
After a sensational week in London, Tsitsipas looks poised to lead
the charge for the young guns in 2020.
"I have no clue how I played so well in the second set," Tsitsipas
said on court. "I was nervous playing in such a big event. But I'm
so relieved by the outstanding performance and the fight I showed
today."
Thiem will rue the 40 unforced errors that undermined him on Sunday
but back-to-back wins over Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic this
week proved that, at 26, he is moving into his prime years, and not
just on his favored clay.
YOUNGEST PLAYER
Tsistipas was the youngest player to reach the final on debut since
American Jim Courier in 1991.
He was also playing for the third successive day after losing a
superb group match against Nadal on Friday and eclipsing six-time
champion Federer in the semi-finals.
[to top of second column] |
Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas celebrates winning the ATP Finals with
the trophy Action Images via Reuters/Tony O'Brien
But he showed few signs of nerves or fatigue as he wore down Thiem
with his courageous all-court attacking game to pocket a $2.6
million winner's cheque.
Thiem, who has been battling a cold all week, was hanging on at
times in the first set, saving break points at 1-2 and 3-4.
But he edged the tiebreak. Tsitsipas saved one set point with an
athletic volley but then offered up another chance which Thiem took
by landing a powerful first serve.
Tsistipas's response was emphatic. He won 16 of the first 18 points
of a second set he bagged in 25 minutes.
Under siege Thiem showed guts to hold serve at the start of the
decider but when he slapped a backhand into the net to hand
Tsitsipas the first break in the third game it appeared the match
was slipping away.
The Austrian, whose run to the final will see him end the year
ranked fourth in the world, then went for broke, throwing the
kitchen sink at Tsitsipas as his groundstrokes rocked the Greek and
he leveled the set at 3-3.
Twice Tsitsipas nervelessly held serve to stay afloat as the final
moved into a final-set tiebreak for the first time since 2005 and
only the fourth time in the event's 50-year history.
Tsitsipas said after beating Federer that he would love an army of
fans like the Swiss great. So it was music to his ears as "Tsitsipas...Tsitsipas"
rang around the cavernous hall.
Despite being pegged back to 4-4 he reeled off the next three points
to seal his third title of the year.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Christian Randedge and Ken
Ferris)
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