Tennis news - Dominic Thiem 'dream' to lift ATP Finals trophy

The Austrian lost his first match of the tournament to bottom seed Matteo Berrettini but then beat Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic on his way to a first ever semi-final berth.

Thiem has ended the year in good form by winning titles in Beijing and Vienna and now has the chance to end 2019 on the best possible note.

“This is just a big, big dream coming true for me,” Thiem said last night, ahead of facing Stefanos Tsitsipas for the ATP Finals at 6pm this evening.

“It’s one of the best tournaments all year, one of the most prestigious and I’m getting the chance to play the finals tomorrow. It’s unreal.

"I just won one of the biggest matches of my life, which makes me very happy, which I didn't really expect, especially [because] I didn't feel that great indoors before, that I didn't have that great success at this tournament the three previous years.

"And now, all of a sudden, I'm in the finals. It means so much to me and I'm going to be fully focused for tomorrow."

Thiem will reach a career-high No 4 in the world on Monday no matter what tonight's outcome, although a victory would put him within 300 points of Roger Federer.

The 26-year-old has often been tipped as one of the men to break up the dominance of the likes of Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, having twice reached the French Open final.

But he is yet to win a Grand Slam - although Federer wonders whether the line-up in the final is a sign of things to come.

"I think they [the next generation] have proved their point this year by qualifying for the Finals, and also now Dominic showed again at these Finals, and winning five titles, beating all of us top guys," Federer said.

"Definitely it's that next step they need, and seems like Dominic is in his absolute prime right now. Yeah, I would think so.

"But then I look at the list of who finished world number one, who has been world number one all these years, and it's just crazy that it's always one of us.

"But we are not getting any younger. So their chances increase not because we are getting worse but because they are getting better, I believe."