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Stefanos Tsitsipas beats Dominic Thiem: ATP Finals final – as it happened

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Stefanos Tsitsipas fought back form a set down to beat Dominic Thiem in a dramatic tie-break

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Sun 17 Nov 2019 16.50 ESTFirst published on Sun 17 Nov 2019 12.00 EST
Stefanos Tsitsipas poses with the winner’s trophy.
Stefanos Tsitsipas poses with the winner’s trophy. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images
Stefanos Tsitsipas poses with the winner’s trophy. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images

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Stefanos Tsitsipas defeats Dominic Thiem 6-7(6) 6-2 7-6(4)!

The Greek recovers from a set down to win the ATP Finals and seal the biggest win of his career! Astounding resilience and an incredible match. The next generation has officially arrived.

Tsitsipas falls to the floor as he celebrates his win. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
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Third set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) 6-2 6-6 (*4-2) Dominic Thiem: Tsitsipas is in the ascendancy here, but only narrowly. Beautiful play from Tsitsipas to move ahead 2-1 with a great crosscourt backhand before finishing the point with an overhead. Then Thiem’s backhand malfunctions twice, with it flying wide at 2-1 then netting a short ball on the following point. Good work from Thiem to limit the damages by forcing a Tsitsipas forehand error with a big backhand down the line. He’s still going after it. Impressive.

Third set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) 6-2 6-6 Dominic Thiem: We’re heading to a third set tiebreak! Another great hold from Tsitsipas, who found his first serve well. A particularly brilliant volley from him at 15-15, before sealing the point with a very good overhead. He held with a good unreturned first serve. Who will hold their nerve?

Third set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) 6-2 *5-6 Dominic Thiem: Thiem puts together another quick hold of his own, sealed with his eighth ace. He’s serving bombs, crushing his forehand and coming forward whenever the opportunity presents itself. Tsitsipas was screaming at himself: “move your feet!” Not many people in the world would have reached those forehand bullets from Thiem.

Tsitsipas will serve to stay in it again.

Third set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) 6-2 5-5* Dominic Thiem: Nerves of steel from Stefanos Tsitsipas to hold to love with everything on the line. He opened with an ace down the T and followed with a slew of unreturned serves. A 67 secound hold while serving to stay in it? Incredible. Back to Dominic.

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Third set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) 6-2 *4-5 Dominic Thiem: The problem for Tsitsipas is that Thiem is now well into a rhythm on his serve. He holds after striking bomb of a 92mph backhand flat down-the-line to bring up 40-0. He held with a great inside out forehand drive volley. A huge hold.

Thiem has so impressively wrestled this set back in his favour. Now Tsitsipas will serve to stay in the tournament.

Third set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) 6-2 4-4* Dominic Thiem: Tsitsipas cuts Thiem’s run of consecutive games at three, holding with a brilliant hooked forehand after defending multiple bombs from Thiem. He celebrated with a loud cheer at his box and he needed that. The level is high from both players now. This is really about who will hold firm mentally.

Tsitsipas celebrates holding his service to square the game. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Reuters
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Third set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) 6-2 *3-4 Dominic Thiem: All of a sudden, the momentum has completely shifted. Thiem is absolutely destroying the ball, opening with a huge forehand then a sizzling backhand down the line winner en route to a love hold. All of a sudden, Thiem has won three successive games and he is two games away.

Third set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) 6-2 3-3* Dominic Thiem: Thiem breaks back! Finally, after being on fire for the past hour, the Greek finally came back down to earth. Three missed first serves and a flurry of errors. Across the net, Thiem returned really well and particularly came up with a brilliant backhand crosscourt passing shot at 15-30. We’re back on serve. Such impressive resilience from the Austrian.

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Third set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) 6-2 *3-2 Dominic Thiem: Thiem keeps himself in the game with a vital hold. Some brutal forehands from Austrian helped him to a 40-0 lead. It took a couple of attempts, but he finally held serve for 30 with a huge ace.

Tsitsipas is anincredible tennis player and he is playing with a lot of spirit, but he is truly abysmal at challenging. Another bad challenge from him on Thiem’s game-sealing ace there.

Thiem holds. Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA
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Third set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) 6-2 3-1* Dominic Thiem: The Greek is just streaming through these service games now and serving incredibly well. He eases through his second love hold of the set with a sweeping crosscourt forehand. ⅞ first serves in, zero points lost on serve. The question is how long he can keep this up.

Third set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) 6-2 *2-1 Dominic Thiem: Tsitsipas breaks! He is everywhere - serving well, returning well, crushing the ball and moving so fluidly. The pressure is just too much for the Austrian. Thiem double faulted for 0-30, then Tsitsipas brought up break point after a lovely backhand return and a forehand that clipped the baseline to force a Thiem error.

Thiem saved the first break point with a lovely pair of forehand volleys, but he went after a backhand down the line and it flew into the net. A big moment here. Can Thiem bounce back?

Tsitsipas returns to break service. Photograph: John Walton/PA
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Third set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) 6-2 1-1* Dominic Thiem: Tsitsipas is relentless. He shrugged off the missed break points and immediately went on the attack again, holding to love with ease. Gorgeous forehand down the line winner from him at 30-0. The pressure was off the Austrian’s shoulders for about a minute. Now he has to hold again.

Third set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) 6-2 *0-1 Dominic Thiem: Quite an incredible hold from Thiem. With the momentum fully behind the Greek, this was a huge game and both players played like it. At 30-30, Tsitsipas came up with a tremendous point, sliding around the court as he defended Thiem’s biggest blows, then flipping to offence and finishing with a beautiful drop volley on the 18th shot. It took a bullet of a forehand down the line from Thiem to save the first break point, then Tsitsipas responded with vicious, heavy forehands to move up break point again.

But Thiem saved the second break point by forcing a Tsitsipas error with a heavy crosscourt forehand, then he slammed down two big serves to hold. Absurd tennis. Thiem celebrated with a huge fistpump to the ground and rightly so.

Second set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) 6-2 Dominic Thiem: No problems for Tsitsipas, who comfortably serves out the set to take us into a decider. He lost his first service point of the set on the opening point, but then fired down a stream of big serves to find himself up 40-15. On his second set point, he slammed down another big serve to take it.

What an incredible set of tennis from Tsitsipas, both in the quality of his tennis and his resilience. 10 winners and just 1 unforced error.

Tsitsipas takes the second set. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images
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Second set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) *5-2 Dominic Thiem: Another good hold by Thiem, who seals it off to 15 with his fifth ace and then a service winner down the T. The good news for him is that he seems to have found his rhythm on serve again and that will help him going into the third set. Now, let’s see if the Greek can serve this thing out.

Second set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) 5-1* Dominic Thiem: Tsitsipas keeps his foot on the gas, easing through another love service game. He has not lost a single point on his serve in this set.

Second set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) *4-1 Dominic Thiem: Thiem finally gets himself on the board in set two with a quickl love hold, finding some first serves and some big forehands behind them. He closed it off with a huge service winner.

Second set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) 4-0* Dominic Thiem: Tsitsipas is just running away with this set now. He finds his first serve and slams down a love hold to increase the lead. It’s hard to see Thiem turning this set around at this point. He has won 2 (two!) points in this set so far. Tsitsipas has 7 winners and 0 unforced erroers.

Tsitsipas reaches for a a forehand. Photograph: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
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Second set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) *3-0 Dominic Thiem: The answer at the moment is ‘no’ - Tsitsipas is all over Thiem right now. At 15-30, Thiem attempted a serve and volley, but Tsitsipas moved brilliantly to reach the drop shot, lobbed it over the Austrian’s head and then buried the forehand volley after Thiem’s floated response. He finished with an incredible forehand down the line winner.

That is how you respond to disappointment in a tennis match. There will always be more opportunities.

Second set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) 2-0* Dominic Thiem: Tsitsipas slams down an easy hold to open the set with an ace. He has already hit 4 winners in set two and he is flying. Not too surprising to see the Austrian’s level suffer a bit of a lull after the adrenaline release of winning the first set. Can he get back on track?

Second set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) *1-0 Dominic Thiem: After such a great set of tennis, there was no reason for Tsitsipas to be discouraged. Good to see that he wasn’t. The Greek immediately takes the first break of the match to 15 after a wayward forehand from the Austrian.

Wow. That was a tough, tough set of tennis and very high quality. Tsitsipas started off the brighter of the two but Thiem really got into the match quickly. Both players were extremely impressive, with both players returning pretty well but also serving really well under pressure. They are both also moving forward extremely well and clinched big points with big volleys at the net. It all came down to what was between the ears and Thiem just held firm mentally at the end.

First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) Dominic Thiem: Tsitsipas finally blinked and it’s Thiem who takes this brilliant set of tennis! Tsitsipas shanked a backhand at 6-6, and Thiem slammed down a big serve down the T to take the set.

Thiem takes the first set. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images
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First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-6(6-6) Dominic Thiem: This is tense! There is nothing to choose between them. A fourth ace from Thiem brings set point, which is eradicated by a great move to the net from Tsitsipas. A gorgeous backhand volley into the corner from the Greek, who then slammed down the overhead.

First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-6 (5-5) Dominic Thiem: Thiem found another big unreturned first serve at 4-2, but then his backhand clipped the net tape and dribbled back on his side. Tsitsipas fired another big serve to keep himself tight to Thiem, and then a wide forehand from the Austrian brought them level.

First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-6 (2-4*) Dominic Thiem: Tsitsipas missed a forehand on the opening point and Thiem used the immediate mini-breakto build a great lead, beautifully moving forward at 2-0 to bring up a 3-0 lead. Tsitsipas pegged him back with two service holds, but a big serve from Thiem keeps him in the lead.

First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-6 Dominic Thiem: We’re heading to a tiebreak! A great hold from Dominic Thiem, who started with two bad forehand unforced errors to immediately fall down 0-30. But we have been here before - he immediately found a big serve and then a bruising forehand down the line. The Austrian just refuses to hold back and nor did he at 30-30, crushing a forehand crosscourt winner to bring up game point.

Thiem missed the first game point, but he immediately brought up a second and he held with a beautiful backhand drop volley. It’s time to decide this great set of tennis.

Tsitsipas cuts a return. Photograph: Tony O’Brien/Action Images via Reuters
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First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-5* Dominic Thiem: Tsitsipas secures another hold, but it wasn’t easy at all. Thiem pulled Tsitsipas to 30-30 by dragging Tsitsipas wide with a great forehand crosscourt, but at 30-30 Thiem went after a second serve return return and set his forehand long. A brutal miss. The Greek found a big serve to hold on.

A big “pame!” from the Greek there, which means that he is very happy.

A tiebreak on the horizon...

First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas *5-5 Dominic Thiem: Thiem responds with his own swift hold. He absolutely demolished a backhand down the line to bring up 30-0, then he forced a Tsitsipas forehand error with bruising, heavy forehand onto the baseline. The Austrian dismounted by coming forward from a huge forehand down the line and finishing with a beautiful drop volley.

Why is Thiem thriving all of a sudden on hard courts? Just check out how well he has played at the net today and how willing he has been to move forward on big points. He is now clearly an all-court player.

Thiem plays a backhand return. Photograph: Alberto Pezzali/AP
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First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 5-4* Dominic Thiem: Tsitsipas breaks the run of struggle service games with a quick hold to 15. He is now 10/10 at the net, including on many important points. He came in twice here, serving and volleying early in the game, then closing things off with a great overhead. We move on.

First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas *4-4 Dominic Thiem: This is so intense. For a third game in a row, break points are saved as Thiem recovers from 15-40 down to level the match again. Tsitsipas had blasted a rocket of a forehand down the line return winner for 15-30, then he ground out a long point with great defence until Thiem netted a forehand down the line.

But Thiem saved the first break point with his third ace and the second by bravely finishing moving forward to bravely the point at the net. He escaped with some big serving. Both men are showing their guts and bravery early on. Very impressive.

First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 4-3* Dominic Thiem: Goodness. Now it’s time for Tsitsipas to save two break points and dig out a hold. The Greek started off sloppy, with four bad forehand errors throughout the game, but he saved the first with a genius piece of decision making - a serve and volley off his second serve. Thiem was completely blindsided and offered up an easy floaty return from deep in the court.

But on the second break point, Thiem was badly robbed. He was standing on top of the baseline and landing huge blows when the linesman called Tsitsipas’ defensive forehand out. Thiem immediately knew the call was wrong, and hawkeye confirmed. Tsitsipas responded with a huge forehand to save the break point and he found his serve to dig out the hold.

Tsitsipas fights back to hold. Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA
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First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas *3-3 Dominic Thiem: Another great hold for Dominic Thiem. This time he dug it out after missed a pretty appalling forehand at 15-30. He responded by playing two brilliant points in a row, standing on the baseline and pummelling forehands drom side to side. He forced a Tsitsipas backhand error on the first point, then slipped into the net and played a great volley. He held with a big unreturned serve.

Thiem is having to work much harder for his service games, but so far he is more than equal to it.

First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 3-2* Dominic Thiem: Another impressive hold from Tsitsipas, whose forehand is already purring. He opened the game by abolutely battering a 101mph forehand winner after a brutal 23 stroke rally, then he dispatched an easy forehand drive volley to eventually bring up 40-0. A couple of points later, he slipped a sweetly struck forehand winner crosscourt to hold. It is incredible how much he trusts that stroke at such a young age.

First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas *2-2 Dominic Thiem: Dominic Thiem stared down break point for the first time today, and he came up with a brilliant hold to level the first set. Very impressive. Thiem started the game really shakily with a backhand long and a bad volley, eventually facing break point at 30-40 after a big forehand down the line from Tsitsipas.

How did he respond? He scuppered the danger with a huge, heavy forehand crosscourt, then he slammed down his first ace at deuce and another big serve to hold.

Thiem holds his serve to level things up. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images
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First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 2-1* Dominic Thiem: Tsitsipas holds firm again after a great forehand winner and another ace to bring up 40-0.

Thiem won the first return point of the match and the nuclear backhand down the line winner and it contained a message: He has been destroying that shot all week and that’s what he will be looking for today.

First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas *1-1 Dominic Thiem: Thiem kicks things off with a great hold of his own, sealing his first game to love with a big first serve to force a return error from Tsitsipas.

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First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 1-0* Dominic Thiem: Stefanos Tsitsipas kicks off proceedings and what a perfect start that was. Four first serves, two aces and he gets on the board with an immediate love hold. What are nerves?

Tsitsipas serves to start the match. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Reuters
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Tsitsipas on Thiem:

Q. You have a huge fan base in Austria, I can tell you, and you have a huge fan named Dominic Thiem. A few days ago he said he loves watching you, the style of play you have. Is there an answer from your side? Because possibly he could be one of your opponents in the final. Is there any answer about his development and his style of play? This week especially.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I haven’t said that, but Dominic has inspired me a lot to be a better version of myself when I’m out on the court.

I see a lot of things that he does on the court, and I try to do the same. Because I have mentioned this before: what Roger does, only Roger does. It’s really difficult to copy what you see.

So to me Dominic is more, like, something normal, normal in a way that something that’s possible, something that’s possible.

Roger is an exceptional talent. We all know that. He has a very difficult game style to copy. So for me, Dominic has always been someone that I looked up to and wanted to, wanted always to play with the same intensity and the same will that he puts in the court. He puts a lot of effort and a lot of -- I would just describe him as an intense player. If he’s in the zone, he can just create so much opportunities with his game.

And by the way, it’s also nice to know I have an Austrian fan base. It’s great.

Thiem on Tsitsipas.

Q. You mentioned about Stefanos being a hitting partner. How long have you known him? What’s your relationship like?

DOMINIC THIEM: That was the first time I met him, 2016 here, as a hitting partner. Of course I saw that he’s playing great, but I didn’t put so much attention on it because other things to focus on.

And then he came on tour, and we played our first match last year in Doha, like two years ago almost, and there I saw and I also felt his amazing potential.

Then at the end of the year already he was No. 14 or 15, and then everybody could see where his direction goes, like, only up, only in absolute world class.

Well, he really deserves it. He’s a good person. He’s a very good player with a very attractive style to watch, so it’s good to have him.

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So, who will win? Thiem and Tsitsipas have plenty of history, with Thiem leading the series 4-2, including winning their most recent meeting 3-6 6-4 6-1 in the Beijing final last month. However, they have split their last four meetings, with the first two in early 2018 just before the Greek broke through.

The big question is hidden in Djokovic’s comments after his defeat to Thiem. Did the Austrian peak in the group stages? He has certainly reached a higher level than Tsitsipas this week, but although he managed his victory against Zverev well, it certainly wasn’t a great match. Across the net, Tsitsipas has played at a consistent level throughout the tournament and it seems likely that he will produce another good match again.

Pierre Hugues-Herbert and Nicolas Mahut just beat Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus to win their first ATP Finals title, another important victory to their incredible resume. They have now won the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open, ATP Finals and Davis Cup together. All eyes will be on the Olympics next.

2018: 🥈
2019: 🥇
@p2hugz & @nmahut have won the #NittoATPFinals without dropping a set!

🎥: @TennisTV pic.twitter.com/ANrwxqG2un

— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 17, 2019

Roger Federer was frustrated with his own performance in yesterday’s defeat to Tsitsipas, but he had some positive words for his conqueror.

I look across the net, and I thought that he played really well. He took the ball early. I know he does that. I thought I returned actually pretty good on the first serve. Second serve of breakpoints and stuff, I guess there were better moments, but for the most part I wasn’t quite getting into the rallies the way I wanted to.

Well, I think I have to credit him for pushing me to not playing at the level I was hoping to today.

Here are Novak Djokovic’s comments on Thiem a few nights ago:

I don’t think I have experienced too many matches like this where my opponent just goes for every single shot.

I mean, he was unbelievable, and in some stages it was just incredible that he was just literally smacking the ball as hard as he can and he was going in.

It’s really hard to say -- I mean, of course his level was super high. This today was unbelievable. But whether he can keep that up, you know, every match, if he does, chapeau, you know. There is not much you can say. For sure, he’s playing great tennis.

Thiem hasn’t quite hit the heights of his first two matches since. We’ll see if he will be able to keep that level up for one more match.

Preamble

Hello! Welcome to our coverage of the title match at the ATP Finals, where Dominic Thiem will face off against Stefanos Tsitsipas as both players chase down the biggest title of their young careers.

I’m not sure there could be a more fitting final between the two best players of the tournament. Thiem has produced some mindblowing tennis, with wins over Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev and particularly in his second match against Novak Djokovic, who played a damn good match himself yet watched the Austrian hit winners past him at will in the end.This is what he said afterwards:

Across the net, he will face Stefanos Tsitsipas who has been incredibly steady and consistent throughout the tournament. He arrives in the final after wins against Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev and Roger Federer. The Greek has beaten his biggest generational rivals and taken out the great Roger Federer to reach this final. The youngsters are making a move and as we look to the future, what a statement it would be for him to win.

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