Nitto ATP Finals: 21-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas beats Dominic Thiem to become youngest winner in 18 years

Stefanos Tsitsipas stunned Dominic Thiem in a set down fights back match to claim the biggest title of his career. He is the first Greek player to win the Nitto ATP Finals.

At the age of 21 years and three months, Tsitsipas is the youngest Nitto ATP Finals champion since former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt (20) in 2001 in Sydney.

THE NEW KING OF LONDON 

@StefTsitsipas becomes the first Greek player to win the #NittoATPFinals 

: @TennisTV pic.twitter.com/vgqwdbfQiS

— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 17, 2019

In the two hours and 35-minute compelling summit clash, Tsitsipas battled back to beat Austria’s Thiem 6-7(6), 6-2, 7-6 (4) in an intense three-set encounter at London’s O2 Arena. 

The Greece star has also capped off a successful transition from 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals champion to the Nitto ATP Finals crown, in a year. It was also Tsitsipas’s third title of the season.

“I can’t sum up my emotions right now,” said Tsitsipas. “It’s amazing to be remembered as the 2019 champion. It is a dream come true and the best way to end this match.

“I did get nervous at some points in the match but I managed to forget about how I felt and I had momentum in the tie-break which was really tight. My fighting spirit and me constantly trying to push myself to do better got me there in the end.”

Hold it high, @StefTsitsipas 

Your 2019 #NittoATPFinals champion 

: @TennisTV pic.twitter.com/XpnMcr4Vst

— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 17, 2019

This is the fourth straight year in which a first-time season finale titlist has been crowned, following in the footsteps of Andy Murray (2016), Grigor Dimitrov (2017) and Alexander Zverev (2018).

The last time this happened in the tournament’s history was from 1988-1991 with Boris Becker (1988), Stefan Edberg (1989), Andre Agassi (1990) and Pete Sampras (1991) winning the title.