Tsitsipas fights back to beat Thiem and claim ATP Finals title

Stefanos Tsitsipas, the youngest of the eight qualifiers for the elite season-ender at the O2 Arena, displayed resilience and aptitude in equal measure to grow to be the youngest champion in view that Lleyton Hewitt in 2001
Stefanos Tsitsipas tested his meteoric rise into the easiest echelon of men’s tennis by means of fighting lower 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 come to be the youngest champion on the grounds that 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 once undaunted and replied in style.
As Thiem’s stage dipped, Tsitsipas surged into a 4-0 lead in the 2d set and then led 3-1 in the decider.
Twice French Open runner-up Thiem was once not finished even though and fought back to take the in shape into a tiebreak.
World variety six Tsitsipas, the crowd favourite, led 4-1 but was once pegged returned to 4-4 before reeling off the closing three points, sealing victory when Thiem ballooned a forehand wide.
It is the fourth successive yr the match has had a first-time winner and surprisingly it is simply one 12 months considering Tsitsipas won the NextGen Finals title for the fine up-and-coming gamers on the men’s Tour.
After a sensational week in London, Tsitsipas looks poised to lead the charge for the younger guns in 2020.
“I have no clue how I played so properly in the 2nd set,” Tsitsipas stated on court. “I used to be nervous taking part in in such a huge event. But I’m so relieved by way of the first-rate overall performance and the fight I confirmed today.”
Thiem will rue the forty 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 transferring into his high years, and no longer simply on his favoured clay.
YOUNGEST PLAYER
Tsistipas used to be the youngest player to attain the ultimate on debut considering American Jim Courier in 1991.
He was additionally playing for the 1/3 successive day after losing a extraordinary crew healthy against Nadal on Friday and eclipsing six-time champion Federer in the semi-finals.
But he showed few symptoms of nerves or fatigue as he wore down Thiem with his brave all-court attacking recreation to pocket a $2.6 million winner’s cheque.
Thiem, who has been battling a bloodless all week, was once striking on at times in the first set, saving ruin factors at 1-2 and 3-4.
But he edged the tiebreak. Tsitsipas saved one set factor with an athletic volley however then offered up some other threat which Thiem took through touchdown a powerful first serve.
Tsistipas’s response was once emphatic. He gained sixteen of the first 18 points of a 2nd set he bagged in 25 minutes.
Under siege Thiem confirmed guts to keep serve at the start of the decider however when he slapped a backhand into the net to hand Tsitsipas the first destroy in the 0.33 recreation it regarded the fit used to be slipping away.
The Austrian, whose run to the remaining will see him cease the yr ranked fourth in the world, then went for broke, throwing the kitchen sink at Tsitsipas as his groundstrokes rocked the Greek and he levelled the set at 3-3.
Twice Tsitsipas nervelessly held serve to stay afloat as the last moved into a final-set tiebreak for the first time due to the fact 2005 and solely the fourth time in the event’s 50-year history.
Tsitsipas stated after beating Federer that he would love an army of followers like the Swiss great. So it used to be track to his ears as “Tsitsipas…Tsitsipas” rang round the cavernous hall.
Despite being pegged back to 4-4 he reeled off the subsequent three factors to seal his third title of the year.