Why Tsitsipas defeated Federer in London according to Boris Becker

For a moment, it seemed that Roger Federer had a huge shot of winning the 2019 ATP Finals in London. With rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic both eliminated in the round-robin , the Swiss had a great opening to end up at the top. The victory would have given the Swiss icon his seventh title in the season-ending event. But Stefanos Tsitsipas put a stop to all that when he prevailed over Federer in the semifinals of the international event.

Tsitsipas’ victory over Federer

The 21-year old beat the Swiss icon 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals of the tournament. This enabled the world No.6 to advance to the final round of the tournament, where he brought Austrian player and world no. 4 Dominic Thiem to his knees.

But it was Tsitsipas’ match with Federer that was talked about a lot because of the explosive moves both players brought into the court.

Federer’s loss explained

Former tennis player Boris Becker was one of the thousands of people who watched the tournament in London. He pointed out one of Federer’s flaws that led to his ATP Finals exit. In an interview with the BBC, Becker said that it is possible that slower recovery that comes with getting older played a huge part in his loss.

He acknowledged that the world No.3 played a lot of good matches and games this year. But given the fact that the Swiss Maestro is now in the latter part of his career, he may have more difficulty recovering physically and mentally.

Tsitsipas, the rising star

The ATP Finals win against Federer is his second time to beat the Swiss Maestro this year. He first triumphed against the 20-time Grand Slam champion in the Australian Open in January.

The huge difference between their ages was also not lost on the commentators watching the match. There is a 17-year age gap between Federer and Tsitsipas, which perhaps cements the latter’s reputation as among the next generation of players that will challenge the dominance of the Big Three. In fact, it is the first time since 2009 that four players under 24 are playing in the season-ender.

One of Tsitsipas’ biggest appeal as a tennis star is his humility. After defeating the Swiss, he still praised him. He even went as far as saying that beating him was one of the biggest honors of his career. He acknowledged how facing him in the tournament is a fulfillment of one of his childhood dreams.

Stefanos Tsitsipas’s ranking and performance in 2019

Ranked no.6, Stefanos played his last match on the 17^th of November when he beat Dominic Thiem 6-7⁶ 6-2 7-6⁴ in the final in London to win his 4^th career title.

This year Tsitsipas has a 53-25 win-loss record. The Greek conquered 3 titles in 2019 in Marseille, in Estoril and in London. The Greek was the finalist in Dubai, in Madrid and in Beijing.

Roger Federer’s ranking and performance in 2019

Ranked no.3, the Swiss played his last match on the 16^th of November when he surrendered to Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 6-4 in the semifinal in London.

This year the Swiss has a 51-10 win-loss record. Federer conquered 4 titles in 2019 in Dubai, in Miami, in Halle and in Basel. The Swiss was the finalist in Indian Wells and in Wimbledon.

Stefanos Tsitsipas and Roger Federer played each other 5 times. The head to head is 3-2 for Federer.

The last time that they played each other, Stefanos Tsitsipas won 6-3 6-4 in the semifinal in Nitto Atp Finals on the 16^th November 2019.

Here the highlights.