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Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas overcame a spirited comeback from Alex de Minaur to capture the ATP 250 title at Los Cabos on late Saturday night, thereby also getting his first trophy of the season.
As per ATP, Tsitsipas clinched the 10th title of his career by defeating Minaur by 6-3, 6-4. With this win, he also perfected his head-to-head record against Minaur to 10-0. The top-seeded Tsitsipas managed to convert his four of nine break points to clinch a win in 86 minutes. He held three points for a double-break lead in the second set at 6-3, 3-2, 0/40. The fifth-seed Australia Minaur made a comeback later, but Tsitsipas notched another crucial break for 5-4 en route to his 39th victory of the ongoing season. The top-seeded Tsitsipas converted four of nine break points he earned to wrap up an 86-minute triumph against De Minaur. He held three points for a double-break lead in the second set at 6-3, 3-2, 0/40 before the fifth-seeded Australian roared back into the match, but Tsitsipas notched another crucial break for 5-4 en route to securing his 39th win of the 2023 season. "I feel like both of us wanted to go out on the court today and show a great final," said Tsitsipas in his on-court interview as quoted by ATP. "I feel like it was a great match. Alex showed great tennis, I tried to keep up with the level as much as I could. I am really happy we were able to deliver a great final today. I think that is the thing that stands out the most. It was a great match and the crowd, as always, was fully present and engaged," he added. In the QFs, Tsitsipas survived a three-set thriller against Nicholas Jarry in the QFs but did not drop more than seven games in his other three wins over John Isner, Borna Coric and De Minaur on his way to his first-ever outdoor hard-court championship title. It is also his first-ever hard-court title since winning Marseille indoors almost three years ago. "I will take the positives out of this week," said Tsitsipas in his post-match press conference. "I had a few good matches here and I think its a good start to the [American hard-court] swing. We have experienced a lot of good tennis this week from a lot of good players. The competition was high, and I am happy to walk away with the trophy," he added. Tsitsipas will be able to topple Casper Ruud and reach at number four in ATP Rankings on Monday as a result of his win. The Greek has witnessed a rise of one spot in ATP Live Rankings this week, moving past Andrey Rublev to position number four as he chases the ATP Finals, the season finale, for a fifth successive year. De Minaur, one of the most gritty players on Tour, has scavenged just one set in his past eight meetings with Tsitsipas. (ANI)
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