Tsitsipas the leading light of tennis' next generation
November 18, 2019
Step aside, Roger Federer. There's a new guy in town who plays the game with a familiar grace and style. The right-handed one-handed backhand, the thumping baseline groundstrokes, the dexterity at the net. And of course, a thunderous serve. It appears as though Stefanos Tsitsipas has it all.
The 21-year-old's hallmarks resemble those of the man he beat for a second time in his career in the semifinals of the ATP Finals in London. Nearing the twilight of his extraordinary career, Federer still has the ability to produce exquisite moments when the pressure is on, but only converted one of ten break points.
The Swiss master is probably the best player the world has ever seen, but with Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal all getting old together, the question has been who will fill the void left by this legendary quartet. On the evidence of his dominant victory over Federer, and the way he has lit up 2019 with some blistering performances, there's every chance Tsitsipas could be tennis' next great hope.
"Wow! I'm so proud of myself today, a great performance and once again the fans were great," he said. "I really enjoyed myself on the court and sometimes in matches like these you wonder how you recover from difficulties and break points down. Today's win is probably one of my best matches of this season. And these are the moments that I always wait for."
Indeed, Tsitsipas has been waiting a lifetime for this kind of moment on a show court, against his idol. But he broke into the top 100 only 25 months ago and was still competing in 'Next Gen' events as recently as a year ago.
His breakthrough moment came in Melbourne in January, when he beat Federer during a run to the semi-finals of the Australian Open that was only halted by Rafael Nadal, who disposed of him in straight sets. Federer has beaten Tsitsipas twice since then, but Tsitsipas has been on the radar ever since.
This time, the Greek was the one required to keep his nerve in a big semi-final. The key moment of this match in London came in the final game of the first set. It was a bruising, 13-minute struggle in which Tsitsipas had to save two break points and needed seven break points to see out the set 6-3. He didn't disappoint.
"It was a mental struggle and I'm proud of how many break points I saved today, I was trying not to give an easy time to Roger, he was playing well," Tsitsipas said. "This guy is too magic for words. He can be so good sometimes."
Tsitsipas then followed on with victory over Dominic Thiem in the final.
"I feel like my game is getting better over time, and I believe I'm really close on being crowned a Grand Slam champion," he said after becoming the youngest season-ending winner since Lleyton Hewitt in 2001.
The race for tennis' next generation is on — and the 'New Federer' is leading the way.