Third-time lucky for Tsitsipas as he overcomes Auger-Aliassime to take Dubai title

Arab News

02-03-2025

DUBAI: Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas made it third time lucky at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Saturday night, defeating Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3 to claim his maiden ATP 500 title in front of a jubilant Centre Court under the lights at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.
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Making his first Dubai appearance since 2020, when he was defeated in the final by Novak Djokovic, and playing in his third final in four trips to the tournament, the World No. 11's straight-sets victory ensured he became the first Greek player to claim glory in Dubai.
After eclipsing Lorenzo Sonego, Karen Khachanov, Matteo Berrettini, and Tallon Griekspoor en route to the Auger-Aliassime showdown, Tsitsipas delivered a stunning array of booming serves, powerful baseline winners, and delicate dropshots to dismantle his under-par opponent in an hour and 28 minutes.
Tsitsipas started slowly, forced to save two breakpoints early on and winning only three points across his opponent's first three service games. Yet it was the No. 4 seed who secured the crucial breaks, first for 4-3 — helped by an Auger-Aliassime double-fault — and again to take the opening set. Crucially, again at 4-3 in the second, he secured the break that would ultimately lead to what he later dubbed his 'final redemption' in Dubai.
'This is something that I have been fighting a long time for and it's great to finally win here in Dubai,' Tsitsipas said after sealing a 12th career title. 'My game kind of clicked and things seemed to work really well right from the beginning (of the match). It's a big relief to finally hold the trophy at the third attempt. It was definitely something in the back of my mind, and I am very happy to have finally accomplished it. I'm proud I managed to handle the pressure and perform in those crucial moments.'
After failing to clinch a hat-trick of 2025 titles following wins in Adelaide and Montpellier earlier this season, a visibly dejected Auger-Aliassime was full of praise for his Greek rival: 'It wasn't to be for me, but congratulations to Stefanos; it's well deserved. He played at a very high level tonight.
'This is my second time in Dubai, and I will definitely be back,' added the Canadian, who is expected to return to the world's Top 20 players when new ATP rankings are released on Monday.
In the men's doubles final, crowd favorites Yuki Bhambri of India and Australia's Alexei Popyrin — a former ball kid at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship — edged out second seeds Harri Heliovaara of Croatia and Great Britain's Henry Patten 3-6, 7-6, 10-8 in a marathon two-hour tussle on Centre Court.
Having lost the first set, Bhambri and Popyrin bravely battled back, defending four match points en route to winning a tense second set tiebreak before eventually sealing a super tiebreak win courtesy of a Popyrin ace on the pair's fourth championship point.
'We were so close to losing in the first round, so it's unbelievable to be in the final and win it — I don't think I would ever have dreamt of this,' said Bhambri, before partner Popyrin added: 'I've been coming to this tournament since I was a kid. I grew up in Dubai, played a lot of junior tournaments here, so it's always good to come back, and to win a title whether in singles or doubles is always special. It's been an unbelievable week.'