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| Source: ATP website |
Newly crowned ATP Finals champion, Stefanos Tsitsipas rallied to beat Dominic Thiem 6-7 (6), 6-2, 7-6 (4) on Sunday for the biggest win in his career. He becomes the youngest champion at the season-ending tournament in 18 years.
Tsitsipas first met Thiem at the O2 Arena in 2016 when he was the world's top-ranked junior and was invited to be a hitting partner for the ATP Finals participants. Three years on and they faced each other in the final.
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| Source: Tsitsipas' Instagram |
It has been quite an exciting year for Tsitsipas, who reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, won two ATP titles and became the first Greek to break into the ATP top 10, a very unlikely scenario according to some of the best UK betting sites.
He leaves London with $2.6 million in prize money for this win. It is the fourth year in a row that there is a first-time champion at the ATP Finals, following wins by Andy Murray in 2016, Gregor Dimitrov in 2017 and Alexander Zverev last year.
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| Source: Reuters / Tony O'Brien |
Also, congrats to Rafael Nadal, who is at 33, becoming the oldest player to finish year-end no. 1 in the history of the ATP Rankings (since 1973).
It has been quite a year for Nadal after getting married to longtime girlfriend, Maria Francisca Perello, in Majorca, Spain last month. He won two Grand Slam titles, including his 12th Roland Garros and his fourth U.S. Open title, and also reached the Australian Open final, losing to Djokovic. Nadal at the pinnacle of his career now has 19 Grand Slam titles, one behind Federer’s 20, and could tie and pass the Swiss maestro in 2020.
Nadal previously finished at the top in 2008, 2010, 2013 and 2017, The Spaniard is the fifth player to finish the year at the top of men’s professional tennis on five or more occasions, following in the footsteps of Pete Sampras (6), Jimmy Connors (5), Federer (5) and Djokovic (5), via the ATP.
Meanwhile, former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych has announced his retirement from tennis. The 34-year-old Czech reached the 2010 Wimbledon final, beating Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic along the way before losing to Rafael Nadal.
Berdych, thank you for all the amazing games in tennis over the years. I'm thankful I had the opportunity to meet you and watch you play in the past.
