The 2018 edition of the Barcelona Open has marked yet another spot in an ATP season filled with anguish and despair. Novak Djokovic sprinted into the draw through a last-minute wildcard hopeful of taking more steps forward in his interminable comeback, only to find himself unintentionally walking backward. Dominic Thiem was awoken to the fact that the ankle injury he sustained in March has scuppered his rhythm just as he has infinite points to defend on clay. And then Grigor Dimitrov’s frayed nerves barely survived two match points against Malek Jaziri, only for them to definitively snap a day later as he ended his defeat to Pablo Carreno Busta in full voice, questioning the integrity of his victor after a contested point. “As a man,” he said to the Spaniard with a dramatic pause worthy of a man nicknamed ‘Hollywood’. “I will remember this.”

It’s no surprise that Rafael Nadal’s return to clay has restored his immunity to the ATP anguish, but this week, the other bright spark has come in the form of a surprise. As others have faltered, 19-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas has marched into the biggest final of his career, leaving a series of strong clay courters splayed out on the clay in his wake. Between them, the formidable lineup of Diego Schwartzman, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Dominic Thiem and Pablo Carreno Busta were bluntly vanquished without a single set against the youngster.

Tsitsipas has been on the radar for some time. He has impressed with his second and third career ATP quarterfinals this year in Doha and Dubai, reaching a career high of 63 and pushing top players across different surfaces. But when young players achieve significant breakthroughs in one event, their results are often the result of a supernova explosion, their form and momentum bright enough to compensate for the greenness of aspects of their games.

The most striking part of Tsitsipas’ ascension on the Barcelona clay is how orderly his high level has appeared and how secure he has looked playing aggressive, intelligent tennis. There have been no fireworks - just a steady wave of aggression backed by consistently good decision making. Throughout the week, the no. 63’s words have backed this as he has, above all, constantly stressed the importance of his preparation and gameplans.

“A tougher score, but things turn out to be much better than I thought,” said Tsitsipas after his quarterfinal. “It was a very good match for my side. Dominic was less aware of his tactics and the way he should have played today, which happens in tennis. I was a bit more prepared than him and that is why I deserve to win.”

It was also evident in Saturday’s semi-final against Carreno Busta. The Greek opened with a clear aggressive statement. He served with precision and his versatile forehand skidded off the lines. But as the set reached its climax, he blinked. In a flurry of nerve-riddled, over-hit forehands, a 5-2 lead became a 5-5 15-30 hole. Instead of panicking, despair revealed different dimensions of the game that will distinguish him over the next years. Under the pressure of 5-5 30-30 on his serve, he skipped around the ball and flicked an absurd inside-out forehand crosscourt angle for a winner. Two points later, he slammed the door shut with a half-volley inside-in forehand winner deep into the corner.

Carreno Busta used his following service game to lengthen points, but each time he faltered. At 0-15, Tsitsipas showcased deceptive footspeed, chasing down a forehand wide in the tramlines, then braking, then jutting forwards to slot away a weak dropshot. At 0-30, he responded to a quality, deep Carreno Busta backhand by curling a wicked backhand of his own out of nowhere, eventually winning the point by digging out a slice low enough to force an error out of the Spaniard despite standing helpless at the net. With two set points remaining, Carreno Busta once again tried to push the youngster back behind the baseline with his favored backhand; Tsitsipas whipped two backhands high and deep, curved a third crosscourt before stepping in to bury the point and the set.

The string of points demonstrated so many different facets of the Greek’s game at once: his weaponry from his serve and forehand, his skillful hands both in offense and improvisation, his deceptive footspeed, particularly on clay, and finally the solidity of a backhand that has lined up against four clay courters intent on grinding it into smithereens, yet has emerged as forged steel, consistently opening the court and allowing his forehand to strike.

When Tsitsipas speaks, it doesn’t take long to hear the confidence that drives his game. It’s not a surprise. In his young career, his personality is already distinct in both the good and the comical. He continues to be asked about his popular YouTube vlog at every week, and he continues to attract beef.  In February, he infamously incensed Daniil Medvedev after their match with comments that the full-Russian branded ‘bulls*** Russian’. In March, he dueled fellow youngster Christian Garin in a series of insults too embarrassing for kindergarten.

“You shut up,” shouted Tsitsipas. “You shut up,” Garin responded. They continued forever.  “You shut the f**k up.” “You shut the f**k up.” “You're crazy.” “You're crazy.” “Nobody likes you.” “Nobody likes you.” But perhaps the most valuable part of the exchange was how Tsitsipas succeeded in uttering both the first and last word of the exchange. “It's about time he stopped his stupidity. He is jerk,” he finished. His tactics in combat reflected those on the court: always be persistent, and always be on the offense.

Tsitsipas’ confidence is also clear when he discusses his game. When I asked him whether, before this week, he had ever had difficulty with the perils of variety - what to do with all those shots - he categorically rejected the idea that his variety had ever troubled him.

“If you have a clear plan of what you’re doing and know how to construct the point when you play I think it's pretty obvious,” he said, scoffing incredulously. “Your mind is clear, you have nothing messed up in your mind, you have a clear plan, you feel you have everything under control. So, if you feel you manage to keep the right tactics, work on them in the practice and execute when you get out onto the court, I think everything can be good”

The youngster’s description of despair inadvertently sounded eerily like the troubles that much of the top players have endured this week. But, in Barcelona at least, they don’t include Stefanos Tstisipas. The first Greek man to reach an ATP final since 1973 will remember the week of his first ever ATP final for all the right reasons.