Young guns are finally firing in men's tennis at this year's ATP Finals

Stefanos Tsitsipas and Dominic Thiem dominated the early stages of the year-end ATP Finals this week, suggesting men's tennis is in good form

On Tuesday night, the hailstorm of winners from Dominic Thiem’s backhand at the Nitto ATP Finals tournament in London, regarded as tennis’ fifth Grand Slam, seemed like an indoor variant of an extreme weather event. That his opponent was Novak Djokovic, whose superhuman elasticity and tenacity mean that he normally chases down just about any ball, made the match even more incredible. Like bolts of lightning, single-handed backhand after backhand winner followed from Thiem. Even for the Austrian, who often strikes the ball with such manic energy that he looks at risk of a shoulder dislocation, the pace of hitting