Stefanos Tsitsipas recovers to defeat Dominic Thiem and win the ATP World Tour finals

Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Dominic Thiem 6-7(6), 6-2, 7-6(4) in a gruelling ATP Finals on Sunday evening, November 17, at the O2 arena in London. The three set finale went on for two hours and 35 minutes to be crowned as the youngest ATP final champion for in years.

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Debut victory in London

Tsitsipas, who defeated Roger Federer to enter the finals at the tournament he is debuting, lost the first set in a tie-breaker. However, the Greek national did not buckle under pressure and showcased great physical and mental strength to overcome Thiem. Tsitsipas has spent more than 9 hours on court over the last one week, one of which was a three-set match against Rafael Nadal which did not hold any real value since he had already sealed a place in the semifinals. 

Having turned professional in 2016, Tsitsipas has won only three ATP 250 titles and has now scalped one of the most prestigious tournaments after the four Grand Slams. After the match, he said, "I have no clue how I played so well in the second set. I have no idea. I think my mind was at ease and I wasn’t really thinking of much, which led to such a great performance in the second set, breaking him twice. I didn’t give him many options to play within the second set. It was pretty much an excellent set for me." Tsitsipas recovered very well in the second set, winning 16 out of 18 service points, with a majority - 90% - coming from the first serve. 

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Tsitspas became the first Greek winner of the tournament and the youngest ATP Finals champion since Lleyton Hewitt in 2001, becoming the sixth youngest Champion in the event's history. 

As for Thiem, the 26-year-old would have definitely wanted the title and came close in the deciding set's tiebreaker, but was not able to push his toe-over-the line. In a week where he defeated Federer and Djokovic, he would have hoped for a crescendo.

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