WATCH: Tsitsipas turns 20 with new career-high ranking

TORONTO—On Sunday, Stefanos Tsitsipas left his teenage years behind him as he contested his first-ever ATP Masters 1000 final. A respectable 6-2, 7-6 (4) loss to world No. 1 Rafael Nadal ended his career-best week where he had knocked out four consecutive Top-10 players.

The Greek scored wins over Dominic Thiem, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Kevin Anderson. His match over Zverev was most impressive as he was down 6-3, 5-2 and saved two mach points. Against, Anderson, the youngster survived a marathon third-set tiebreak.

"Well, yeah, I'm living the dream. I'm playing amazing. I'm enjoying it more than ever out on the court with the crowd. It's been the key factor," Tsitsipas said on Saturday. "And I don't know if I got lucky with all those players, but somehow it happened that I played four Top 10 and managed to beat them, which is a huge achievement for me and for my game this week."

The crowd loved every moment they got to spend with the new world No. 15, particularly on Sunday when they sang "Happy Birthday" to him.

The Rogers Cup staff also organized a special cake for him in the player lounge.

Though he wasn't left holding the winner's trophy, Tsitsipas nearly pushed Nadal to a third set. The last time he faced off against the Spaniard was a lopsided loss in the Barcelona final.

It turns out he's quite the Greek philosopher as he wrote "It never gets easier, you just get better" on TV cameras after his semifinal win. The lesson he's taking away is pretty solid, too. "That I'm capable of doing anything on the court, beating any opponent," he said.

Life at 20 certainly doesn't get any easier for Tsitsipas as he launches right into the ATP Master 1000 in Cincinnati where he's drawn David Goffin.

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