Match report
Here’s Kevin Mitchell’s report from that cracking semi-final:
Roger Federer is already looking forward to next year.
Q. Reviewing on this year, you have had a good year, 100 titles and a Grand Slam final. What do you have to do next year to make sure you’re back here and the younger ones don’t dominate the top 8?
Federer: I think, you know, I’ve got to keep on playing at the level like I have this year, and then I will create some chances. I thought I played some consistent, solid tennis. Got to take care of my body, listen to the signs, work well with the team, get the balance right with everything that’s happening in my life.
Then when the matches come, it’s not maybe as easy as it was maybe 10, 15 years ago where you’re just going to play very good day in, day out, maybe you need to do extra effort sometimes for that to happen. Maybe that’s what it felt like today is just things were complicated, but I’ve got to maybe do even a better job at figuring these moments out, because the opportunities were there today, for instance.
They were there in other moments as well this season, maybe Indian Wells or Wimbledon or whatever. That can change an entire season around, the confidence around, the flow of things. But, you know, I’m happy how I played this season, and I’m extremely excited for next season.
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More from Stefanos Tsitsipas:
Well, it’s not easy to copy Federer. This guy does magic on the court so for me. I’m trying to do half of what he does [laughs]. He can be so good sometimes! You know, obviously we have different gamestyles. I’m a one-handed backhand, he’s a one-handed backhand too but we all come in different shapes and sizes. Also, Dominic is part of our ‘community’, let’s call it. Really nice to see the single-handed backhand being alive and there’s so much for me to learn from all these players. Roger as well, I grew up watching Roger as a kid. Watching him here at the Nitto finals, watching him at the Wimbledon, plenty of finals. Wished I could step out on the court one day and face him. Today I’m here and living the dream. I remember myself being one of these kids here watching the event. For me, it was just, you know, I could never picture myself standing here but it did happen. I mean, dreams do come true.
I have no preference [for the final]. I played Sascha in the groups. Obviously everything can happen now in the finals. Sascha proved it to us last year when he was defeated by Novak [in the group stage] and he went out in the final and beat him, so anything can happen now. I just need to be super careful. I need to have a good schedule before my match tomorrow, and let’s hope for a good semi-final. I’m gonna watch it.
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If Roger Federer is looking for any consolation, perhaps he should turn on the TV right now. There is a special retirement ceremony going on with many familiar names and plenty of people who are younger than him:
Nicolas Almagro, Marcos Baghdatis, Tomas Berdych, Victor Estrella Burgos, David Ferrer, Marcin Matkowski, Max Mirnyi, Radek Stepanek and Mikhail Youzhny.
Former French Open finalist Ferrer and former Wimbledon finalist Berdych will go down as two of the best players of the previous generation. They both enjoyed incredible careers and were clearly unlucky to have played in the same generation as the big 3.
Stefanos Tsitsipas after his win:
Wow! Jesus. I’m so proud of myself today. Great performance and once again, people were great. I really enjoyed my time on the court and sometimes matches like this, you wonder yourself how you overcome all those difficulties, all those break points down. It’s really, like, a mental struggle. So I’m really proud that I managed to save so many break points today. You know, I was trying not to give an easy time to Roger. He was playing good and shout out to him as well. He did pretty well this week in Nitto. I mean, an inspration, obviously, as always. Playing him, it’s the biggest honour I could have. Today’s win, victory is probably one of my best matches of this season. And these are the moments that I always wait for and these are the moments that I want to prove the best out of my game.
The nerves in that final game were just excruciating. Tsitsipas opened with a forehand error off a low Federer slice, then again at 15-15, he sent a routine forehand flying out. Federer worked the 15-30 point really well, moving the ball around, opening the court and then crushing a forehand down the line. But it ended with a dire, nervy backhand shank from Tsitsipas.
The theme today has been their respective performances from break points down, and it was again at 15-40. Federer shanked a bad forehand wide on the first break point and then screamed at himself. From there, Tsitsipas took control. He found a big serve on the second break point and eventually closed out a brilliant win with another big serve.
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Stefanos Tsitsipas defeats Roger Federer 6-3 6-4!
What a tournament. What a year. The 21 year old from Greece will contest his first ever final in London.
Second set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 *5-4 Roger Federer: Federer holds from deuce to force the Greek to serve out the match, sealed with a big serve down the T. He continues to make life harder for himself though - he missed a dire routine forehand at 30-15. Let’s see what he has to offer here.
Second set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 5-3* Roger Federer: Tsitsipas throws in another hold to move within a game of victory, but it wasn’t easy. Federer opened the game with a brilliant crosscourt pass and then Tsitsipas threw in a double fault at 15-30.
But the Greek has been spectacular with his back to the wall today. From 15-30, Tsitsipas stood on the baseline and forced an error out of Federer with two booming forehands. A service winner followed, then Federer shanked a bad backhand out to limply hand over the game. Almost there.
Tennis never stops...
👀 Guess who’s back in town...
— Davis Cup by Rakuten Madrid Finals (@DavisCupFinals) November 16, 2019
Hola @RafaelNadal! 🇪🇸#VamosEspaña@spaintenis | #DavisCupMadridFinals #byRakuten pic.twitter.com/gwjb96nTkS
Second set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 *4-3 Roger Federer: Federer keeps himself in the match by holding to 30, closing off with a great forehand crosscourt to force a Tsitsipas forehand error and then an unreturned first serve. But even in that game he made life far too difficult for himself, throwing in two errors from 30-0 up.
He has now hit 8 winners and 11 unforced errors in this set. That, my friends, is not good at all.
Second set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 4-2* Roger Federer: After two long deuce games and two breaks, Tsitsipas once again shows himself to be the sharper player today by clinching down a great hold to 15. He finished with a brilliant forehand down the line at 30-15 before his backhand down the line passing shot was just good enough to force a forehand volley error from Federer and secure the hold.
Some of these points are gruelling. Both players look tired and frustrated at times, but Tsitsipas’ athleticism is really helping him right now. Can he keep this lead?
Second set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 *3-2 Roger Federer: Roger Federer finally converted a break point, only to let too many game points go. That was a nervy, nervy service game.
The Swiss shanked a forehand at 30-30 to fall down break point, but his response was two brilliant service winners to bring up game point. Federer dragged a forehand wide on the first game point and Tsitsipas crushed a backhand down the line, as good as a winner, on the second. On break point, Tsitsipas stepped in and crushed a forehand winner crosscourt. The Greek is showing his mental fortitude today and he refuses to go away.
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Second set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 2-2* Roger Federer: Federer finally breaks! It only took 9 break points for it to happen. Federer continues to return incredibly well and he moved up 0-40 after two spectacular forehand returns.
But on break points, Federer has been another player today. He missed his 7th and 8th break points with two dire backhand return errors. Tsitsipas eradicated the final with a great overhead. The Swiss persevered, saving the game point with a precise forehand down the line and then connecting with a beautiful dropshot. Tsitsipas finally shanked a forehand wide on the eighth break point, and Federer is back in it.
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The bullet backhand return from Federer on one of the many set points.
Sweet as they come 👌
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 16, 2019
A rocket return from @rogerfederer #NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/8JOqVQrGi5
Second set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 *2-1 Roger Federer: Well, that was a horrible service game from Roger Federer. There is not much else to say. He failed to get a single first serve in play and hit three routine groundstroke errors to fall down 0-40. A tame forehand into the net from Federer sealed the break. Suddenly, this looks like an extremely tough task.
Second set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 1-1* Roger Federer: After a couple of incredibly difficult holds and countless break points saved, Tsitsipas gets onto the board in set two with an easy hold to 15. He struck a brilliant backhand down the line to hold. He will be looking for more service games like that one.
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Second set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 *0-1 Roger Federer: No problem for Federer on serve as he slipped in a quick love hold to begin the second set.
Tsitsipas takes the first set 6-3
First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 Roger Federer: Tsitsipas takes the first set after the most spectacular game of the entire week. Tsitsipas opened with two quite dire backhand errors to fall down 0-30 but he once again recovered well to bring them level at 30-30.
But after a long point where both players prodded the other and moved, Federer found an incredible combination of angled forehands to bring up a break point. Tsitsipas again responded with some nerveless forehands, and he screamed at himself in glee after saving the first break point. Little did he know what was to come.
Federer saved Tsitsipas’ first set point with an incredible bullet of a backhand winner, Tsitsipas double faulted on the second, and then Federer landed a great forehand return on the third. The pressure seemed to be proving too much for the Greek as Tsitsipas sent a backhand long to give Federer break point. Yet on break point, it was Federer’s time to feel the nerves, sending a routine backhand long.
Tsitsipas responded with an ace to bring up another set point point, but then Federer won an incredible point with a whistling backhand down the line. Tsitsipas buried a glorious backhand down the line winner after a long point. The game is so long and these points are so good that Tsitsipas reacted by laughing out loud. On his sixth set points, Tsitsipas sent a forehand long after a big crosscourt forehand from Federer. Finally, the Greek found two big serves in a row to take the set on his seventh set point. What a game!
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First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas *5-3 Roger Federer: Federer flits through another a quick love hold with ample big serves to put the pressure right back on Tsitsipas’ shoulders. This is far from spectacular from the Swiss. Even the serving isn’t that impressive, but he’s in this now and he needs to take his chances when they come.
First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 5-2* Roger Federer: That was some hold from Stefanos Tsitsipas, who recovers from triple break point down to retain his lead and move to within a game of the first set.
Instead of panicking at 0-40, the Greek responded with two huge forehands and then a gutsy unreturned second serve. He his crushing his forehand and it is so impressive to see how much he trusts it. With a missed second serve return by Federer on break point, he moves on.
First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas *4-2 Roger Federer: Another good hold for the Swiss. Federer seems to be finding his rhythm on his first serve and moving to the net well. A glorious drop volley from Federer at 15-0 helped him to 40-0. It took a couple of attempts, but at 40-30 a great backhand down the line from Federer forced a Tsitsipas forehand error.
First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 4-1* Roger Federer: Tsitsipas’s serve to forehand one-two punch is working very well so far, and he needs it to continue like this. He opened the game with a big forehand winner after the first serve, and again to move up 40-15. Federer fought well to bring Tsitsipas back to deuce, but at deuce Tsitsipas crushed another forehand winner after a big first serve. A sloppy backhand error from Federer and Tsitsipas is able to maintain the break lead.
First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas *3-1 Roger Federer: Much better work from Federer to put his name on the board. He opened by dispatching a couple of nice volleys at the net, then snuck into the net again to pick off a backhand volley at 30-0. With a missed backhand return from Tsitsipas, Federer is on the board with a great love hold.
First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 3-0* Roger Federer: This could have been an awful start for Tsitsipas as he reckoned with break point in the opening game. Instead, it has been a great one. Some really solid serving from the Greek to move ahead: Very nice use of the body serve at 30-15, then he slammed an ace down the T to hold.
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First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas *2-0 Roger Federer: Federer did look sharp in his opening few points, but it has been quite dire since the break point. He started his opening service game with a couple of loose errors to immediately fall down 0-30. He recovered well to 30-30, then badly missed an overhead.
Tsitsipas sensed the opportunity on break point and went on the attack, burying a forehand down the line to take the first break.
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First set: Stefanos Tsitsipas 1-0* Roger Federer: A tough opening service game for Tsitsipas, who recovers from break point down to secure his first hold. Federer is already moving extremely well and looks quite sharp. He unleashed a big crosscourt forehand to force an error and bring Tsitsipas to 30-30, then he chased down a decent dropshot from the Greek and slipped a backhand reply past him at the net.
A shanked missed return from Federer scuppered the break point, then he eventually sent a forehand long on the Greek’s second game point. We begin.
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Before we begin this very serious match, a less serious moment between these two in September at the Laver Cup.
“Any finger you cross!”
— The Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) September 21, 2019
Nadal, Federer and co. laughing at Tsitsipas’ hand signals. #LaverCup just peaked. pic.twitter.com/gDS2atDPpH
The players are now on the court. Roger Federer won the toss and elected to receive.
Dominance.
Year-end Top Three
— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) November 16, 2019
2007 Federer Nadal Djokovic
2008 Nadal Federer Djokovic
2009 Federer Nadal Djokovic
2010 Nadal Federer Djokovic
2011 Djokovic Nadal Federer
2014 Djokovic Federer Nadal
2018 Djokovic Nadal Federer
2019 Nadal Djokovic Federer
In the first doubles semi-final, Raven Klassen and Michael Venus just recovered from a set down to defeat top seeds Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal. A huge win. They await the winner of Nicolas Mahut/Pierre Hugues Herbert vs Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo this evening.
First team final appearance at the #NittoATPFinals awaits for @ravenklaasen & @mike_venus 🙌
— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 16, 2019
They've edged top seeds Cabal/Farah 6-7(5), 7-6(10) {10-6} to reach the season-ending match!
🎥: @TennisTV pic.twitter.com/kVLyHbHu5C
You can find highlights of their Dubai final here.
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So, who will win today? Although everyone looks to that first meeting between Tsitsipas and Federer as their most notable battle, the pair have played twice since on smaller stages. Both in Dubai and a few weeks ago at home in Basel, Federer seemed to enjoy how his game matches up with Tsitsipas’s, winning both matches 6-4 6-4 with a break in each set. Both matches were quite routine.
Federer will look to do what he did in those recent matches and also against Djokovic - serve incredibly well, be extremely aggressive behind his serve and look to come into the net. As usual, he will play at an extremely fast pace to match those fast courts. Tsitsipas’ plan will be quite similar, but the big challenge is whether he can match Federer’s serving rate and efficiency.
The one big worry for Tsitsipas fans should be on return. Despite how well he played against Nadal, he failed to generate a single break point after nearly three hours on court. For a top player, that is unacceptable unless facing Ivo Karlovic. It’s clear that he has specific problems with Nadal’s lefty serve, but his return is his one big weakness in general. He takes too many big cuts at the ball and he is still learning to effectively block returns back. Federer will look to make as many returns as possible and unless Tsitsipas is super sharp, that could be the difference.
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And here is Roger Federer after his sublime 6-4 6-3 victory over Djokovic on Thursday.
Q. You were on fire from the first point to the last point. Can you just give us your views on the way this match went and your excitement at the end when it was finally done?
ROGER FEDERER: I mean, yeah, there is a lot that goes into a match like this. I spoke at length to the team before, probably over an hour 15 about all the different possibilities about what can happen.
They told me what they think is going to happen. We shared those feelings. When you walk out, you just don’t know if any of it is going to work out or come the way it will.
I felt from the get-go I had good rhythm off the baseline and on the serve and that I felt like he was living dangerously if he was not going to play great tennis. That was a good feeling to have, but then again, that doesn’t mean much because Novak has done an unbelievable job in his career to find ways to either make you play bad or to just be better on you on the day or squeeze another victory out like the way he did at Wimbledon.
So I knew the beginning wasn’t key, but I knew it was important. I had a great run on the serve, as well, throughout I think that first set.
I was able to keep the pressure going and mix up my game, because he was playing incredibly aggressive at one point midway through the first set, which surprised me a little bit.
Yeah, I think things just worked very well for me. Tonight was one of those nights where, you know, I was clear in the game plan. I got what I kind of expected, and it was a great feeling at the very end. The reaction showed.
Tsitsipas was asked about the semi-final before he knew who he would face. Here is his answer:
Q. You have either Roger or Thiem tomorrow. Any preference either way? Can you just talk about the matchup with both of them?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, Thiem plays with a lot of intensity, uses his forehand very well. Roger is very aggressive. I mean, both very aggressive players but different styles. I would compare that one is just flawless and doesn’t use too much of his power to play. The other one is really forcing much.
So for me I’m going to -- I mean, I’m going to take it pretty much the same way, both single-handed backhands. I have played them both.
I don’t know. It’s not much to say about them. I respect them, and I have to play well. I know that, because everything is -- everything counts in the semifinals of the O2.
Here are the highlights of that huge encounter in Melbourne.
Preamble
Hello! Welcome to our coverage on semi-final day of the ATP Finals from the O2 Arena. We begin today with an enormous match as Roger Federer, the last remaining member of the big 3, takes on Stefanos Tsitsipas for a place in the final. Later on, good friends Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem will take to the court in their first match of the year.
We’re eleven months into 2019 yet few moments this year have been as joyous and have seemed as significant as Tsitsipas’ four-set defeat of Federer en route to the Australian Open semi-final in January. It was the moment the Greek announced himself on the big stage and the rest of this season has been such a learning curve for him, filled with both massive moments and lows that have forced him to learn and improve.
Both players arrive in this match having played some incredible tennis. Tsitsipas blasted through his opening two matches against Daniil Medvedev 7-6(5) 6-4 and Zverev 6-3 6-2 before barely losing an incredible match against an on-fire Nadal Nadal 6-7(4) 6-4 7-5 yesterday afternoon. The amount of trust he has with his serve, forehand and net game is so impressive, as is how intelligently he uses all of those strokes at such a young age.
Across the net, he faces a Federer who started slowly with a meek loss to Thiem, but he improved in his 7-6(2) 6-3 win over Matteo Berrettini and then played one of his matches of the year to tear through Novak Djokovic 6-4 6-3. His serving was astounding and he backed it up with unflinching aggression. It blows the mind to see him still producing such a high level at 38, yet here we are.
