Stefanos Tsitsipas said “I got myself a boat” for his “sinking” game, after ending an unwanted record in ATP 500 finals with victory at the Dubai Tennis Championship.
Tsitsipas downed Felix Auger-Aliassime – who is bouncing so far in the 2025 campaign with two titles and 16 match wins – in straight sets to pick up his first trophy since the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in April of last year.
And not only does the triumph send Tsitsipas back into the ATP top 10, it also ends a personal hoodoo in ATP 500 tournaments.
The Greek star went into the Dubai final having twice lost at that stage, in that exact competition to Roger Federer in 2019 and Novak Djokovic in 2020.
What is more, Tsitsipas was bearing the weight of a remarkable 0-11 record in ATP 500 finals.
Finally putting an end to that run sparked social media plaudits from Djokovic, with the 24-time Grand Slam champion saying on Instagram: “No one beats @stefanostsitsipas98 12x in a row on 500 Tour level. Well done!”
Celebrating the 12th tour-level title of his career, Tsitsipas also took to social media, saying: “They said my game was sinking… so I got myself a boat”.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Tsitsipas was pleased with his ability to deal with the “emotions” of returning to the venue where he had twice previously fallen short at the final hurdle’
“It feels good to walk away with the title here,” he said. “I’ve had two finals, they weren’t easy to deal with, especially when you come so close to a title.
“There are a lot of things that go through your mind so I dealt with those emotions, those feelings, very well today.
“It makes a whole difference since those other finals in the past and the way I performed in them.
“I’m extremely proud with the way I fought, but also the way I conquered the court and dealt with those decisions at certain points – I had to come up with something good.”
After kicking off his campaign with an Australian Open first-round exit to rising American star Alex Michelsen, Tsitsipas said returning to the top 10 was not a priority, but a “great addition” to his Dubai title win.
“I’ve been in the top 10 before,” he said. “It’s not that it’s not great being back in the top 10, but I feel the focus right now is more the final redemption of getting back and winning the Dubai tournament, especially when I failed twice.
“You don’t want to be losing the final for the third time, so that was definitely something that was more a motivation to go out and win today. The top 10 comes with it, so it’s a great addition.”
