Stefanos Tsitsipas secures maiden ATP 500 title: Decoding stats
What's the story
Fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas clinched his maiden ATP 500 title at the Dubai Tennis Championships after defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets. The Greek ace produced a stellar performance to beat his Canadian rival with a scoreline of 6-3, 6-3. This is Tsitsipas's 12th tour-level title and the biggest outdoor hard-court trophy of his career. Here's more on this.
Path
Tsitsipas's journey to his 1st ATP 500 title
Before this victory, Tsitsipas had made it to the Dubai Championships final on two occasions but ended up losing both times. His previous attempts were denied by Novak Djokovic in 2019 and Roger Federer a year later. The Greek star's latest win over the Canadian player took him just one hour and 28 minutes, bringing him back to the top 10 of world rankings for the first time since May 2024.
Reaction
Tsitsipas expresses relief and joy at victory
After his win, Tsitsipas was immensely relieved and happy to finally hold the trophy after three attempts. He said, "It's a big relief that I'm able to hold that trophy after the third attempt." The world number 11 added, "To be owning a spot in the top 10 is definitely one of the greatest feelings a tennis player can experience."
Details
A look at the match stats and H2H record
Both players doled out 4 aces each. However, Tsitsipas committed 4 double faults to his opponent's two. Tsitsipas owned an 85% win on the 1st serve and a 45% win on the 2nd. He converted 3/6 break points. In terms of the head-to-head record, Tsitsipas has raced to a 7-3 win-loss record over Felix in 10 meetings on the ATP Tour.
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1-11 record in ATP 500 finals
Tsitsipas' one-hour, 28-minute victory against Auger-Aliassime also snapped his losing record in ATP 500 finals (1-11). As per ATP, he is also guaranteed a return to the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings on Monday for the first time since last May.
Doubles
British duo falls short in men's doubles final
In other news from the Dubai Tennis Championships, Britain's Henry Patten and Finland's Harri Heliovaara squandered four championship points before going down in the men's doubles final. The top-ranked pair was beaten by India's Yuki Bhambri and Australia's Alexei Popyrin, who were playing together for the first time. The match ended with a scoreline of 3-6, 7-6 (12-10), 10-8.
Acapulco
Czech player Machac wins 1st ATP Tour title
In Acapulco, Czech player Tomas Machac won his maiden ATP Tour title at the Mexican Open. He defeated Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina with a scoreline of 7-6(6), 6-2. With this win, Machac becomes the third player from his country to win an ATP 500 title after Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek.
Twitter Post
Twitter Post
Lift it high Stefanos 🙌
— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 1, 2025
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