Dominic Thiem to face Stefanos Tsitsipas in ATP Finals showpiece after ousting Alexander Zverev

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Joe Krishnan16 November 2019

Dominic Thiem will play Stefanos Tsitsipas in Sunday's showpiece at the ATP Finals after beating reigning champion Alexander Zverev.

The 26-year-old fought off two attempts at a break from his opponent to take the first set and eventually saw off the German 7-5, 6-3 in an hour and 34 minutes.

It also means Thiem will finish the year ranked fourth in the world, moving ahead of Daniil Medvedev and equalling his highest ranking to date.

Thiem had the clear edge in their head-to-head battles, having won five of the previous seven meetings. But this was where Zverev won the title last year and a place the 22-year-old was looking comfortable.

It made for an intriguing opening, although the players rather cancelled each other out on serves with 11 consecutive holds.

Zverev missed the boat on two occasions with Thiem struggling to get to grips with the slow surface, but the Austrian fought valiantly to keep his nose in front, albeit on serve.

The title holder became increasingly frustrated with his inability to keep his errors down to a minimum and Thiem took full advantage, finally making the break count at 6-5 when Zverev produced a disastrous double fault.

He soon recovered, but the damage was done. Thiem had taken confidence from that and was improving his serve with every delivery, going unbeaten for two straight games.

Zverev would rue handing another opportunity to Thiem to move further clear in the sixth game when he missed several chances to hold serve. Thiem eventually found the answer, forcing Zverev into the net after a ferocious forehand, and suddenly victory was in sight.

Zverev fought hard but it was out of his hands and in the end, Thiem was comfortable as he sealed his place in the final, with Zverev denied the chance to defend his title.

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