World number 6 and Greek hotshot Stefanos Tsitsipas is likely to be the fourth player ranked for the ATP London Finals behind Djokovic, Nadal and Federer. The only greek player to ever win an ATP title is looking to go way beyond that rather simple claim to fame by adding far more silverware to his cabinet.
Source - Getty Images - Stefanos Tsitsipas
In the race for London Tsitsipas has accumulated 2,995 points this year thanks to a 34 wins to 15 losses record, two 250 titles already and is currently in fifth place behind Thiem. There are only a total of eight spots available and two have already been secured by Djokovic and Nadal, with Federer likely to secure the third very soon.
But with Thiem's favoured surface having come and gone the hard court season is approaching and Tsitsipas could secure 4th over Thiem with hard surface tournaments favoured by Tsitsipas over Thiem. Tsitsipas has a real chance at pinching a title or two in the whole array of hard court tournaments to come, not necessarily just in Washington, Toronto or Cincinnati but in the Asian hard court ones that follow too. Thiem won his first hard court tournament in 2 and half years last year in St Petersburg. On the whole he has struggled on hard courts always favouring and having more success on clay.
Tsitsipas being five years younger has yet to establish himself properly on any particular surface in terms of titles, but with his favourite surface being grass, hard courts are obviously his second choice due to their speed.
This year he already got to the Dubai 500 final in February where he lost out to Federer 6-4, 6-4. Tsitsipas will no doubt be the most exciting one to watch outside the big 3 in London come November. He has a touch of flair about his game and a great set of hands at the net. Whether he can follow in the footsteps of Zverev last year and become the next young player to win the final tournament of the official tour year is another thing all together, especially given the way the big 3 are playing this year.
Before London comes around I'd like to see him pick up his first 500 and Masters titles where he overcomes top 10 opposition in the finals and even takes out one of these three along the way. He has yet to win a title where part of that included taking out Djokovic, Nadal or Federer. That will be his next major hurdle to overcome.
Tsitsipas' Record vs the Big 3
vs Djokovic
vs Nadal
vs Federer
Source - ATP Tour
As we can see Tsitsipas' real Achilles heal is playing Nadal where for the first time this year he managed to defeat him having lost on all three previous occasions. Perhaps that match was crucial for showing a sign of maturity and learning how to adapt to the Spaniard's top spin play and aggression. Unfortunately he fell to the number one in the world Novak Djokovic in the final. He was probably gutted that he couldn't make it two wins in a row against the number one and number two in the world - that would have been a stupendous achievement for the 20 year old.
Even though just a week later Stefanos did then loose to Nadal in another semi final on clay in Rome, Tsitsipas will now know he has it in him to tame the Spanish bull, especially on a faster surface than clay. As he turns 21 in August, Tsitsipas will have the big 3 players on his mind, and will no doubt with his coach and father will be trying to figure out how to make head way with his h2h statistics with each one as that will be crucial when wanting to step up his title achievements from 250 to 500.
This guy has a promising future with tennis. Although he may not come near the level of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer or perhaps even Murray and Wawrinka, I do admire his all around game and what he has been able to achieve at such a young age and I think he could easily be the first of the next generation of players to win a slam.
He won the next gen finals last year, it would be rather fitting if he was able to capture the official Men's ATP Final trophy this.
Watch Tsitsipas this Year Defeat Nadal in Madrid for the First Time
Watch Tsitsipas Win the Next Gen Finals Last Year
