Roger Federer joined Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in being sent home from the ATP Finals without the title.
All three of the world’s best players were expected to dominate the season-ending event at London’s O2 Arena.
But Nadal and Djokovic failed to emerge through the group stages and Federer fell at the semi-finals this afternoon.
It means the ATP Finals will have a young champion as the rising stars really begin to flex their muscles.
For years the Next Gen hopefuls have been tipped to take over the mantle from the legends of the game.
But they have never really lived up to their hype on the biggest stage – perhaps Alexander Zverev winning the ATP Final title last year the only real statement of intent.
Throughout the 2019 campaign there have been increasingly more upsets as the future talents show what is to come.
And all signs are pointing towards next season as the year which the mantle can really be passed down.
Stefanos Tsitsipas took Nadal the distance while not playing at 100 per cent in his third round-robin tie yesterday.
He then put Federer to the sword by showing his clinical edge this afternoon.
The 21-year-old took his first two break points – one in each set – while Federer had to wait until his 10th break point before he finally disrupted Tsitsipas’ serve.
The Greek ace Dominic Thiem Sunday’s final after he beat Zverev in the evening session.
However, several of the younger stars have upset their elder peers with surprise results to get into the final four.
Thiem beat Federer and Djokovic back-to-back to top a group he was not even expected to get out of.
Zverev stunned Nadal on Monday to keep his title defence on track – until it was ended by Thiem with a 7-5, 6-3 loss.
But will the young guns be able to produce the same level in 2020?
