Baseline Awards of 2019: Most likely to win first Slam

Across the last few weeks of December, Baseline will dish out awards for the greatest acts of 2019.

Stefanos Tsitsipas was eligible to defend his title at the Next Generation ATP Finals this year, but the young Greek had other end-of-the-season plans: making his debut at the ATP Finals.

And what a first appearance it was.

Tsitsipas won two of his three round-robin matches to advance to the semifinals, where he beat Roger Federer in straight sets. The 21-year-old then defeated Dominic Thiem in a third-set tiebreak in the final to claim his third title of the year.

It was the perfect finish to a breakout campaign, one that got off to an impressive start. Tsitsipas’ late-2018 run of form, which saw him win his first official singles title in Stockholm, carried over into the new year as he advanced to the semifinals at the Australian Open, his best showing at a Grand Slam. Soon after, he captured the title in Marseille, then won the Estoril Open during the clay-court swing.

For the remaining three majors of the year, Tsitsipas was pegged by many as a contender at each of them, but went through a rather disappointing run. It wasn’t until the fall that he got back on track, first by reaching the final at the China Open, which he lost to Thiem, then making semifinal appearances in Shanghai and Basel. At the former, he defeated then-world No. 1 Novak Djokovic for the second time in three meetings to that point.

Will Tsitsipas experience a sense of déjà vu in 2020, where his momentum from the end of the prior season carries over into the next one? If so, he’ll be one to watch in Melbourne once again—and perhaps go a step further or two than he did in 2019.