Stefanos Tsitsipas' performances in Dubai this week finally lived up to a player of his caliber. Many fans and insiders thought that the Greek ace had already passed the peak of his career and that he would have a marginal role in the coming years, instead he is intent on proving that he has yet to show his best.
There is no denying that the player from Athens has had numerous problems in the last two seasons and that he has not been able to play the best tennis, especially away from his beloved red clay. It is not yet possible to determine whether the 2019 ATP Finals champion has already returned to the highest level, but his triumph in the United Arab Emirates leads us to be optimistic for the rest of this season.
The former world number 3 defeated very dangerous opponents during this week and put in a near-perfect performance against Felix Auger-Aliassime in the final, taming an opponent who had always been very uncomfortable for him because of his game.
A new start
'Tsitsi' used a new racket model in Dubai and the benefits were evident from several points of view. The Greek generated more power from the baseline and was also more effective with the backhand, which has always been his main weakness.
On the latest edition of the 'Sans Filet' show, top analyst Benoit Maylin commented on Stefanos' first win in an ATP 500: "The new racket helped him both technically and mentally. He threw shots fearlessly, his backhand worked very well and reminded me of what happened to Roger Federer during the 2017 Australian Open.
In that tournament, the Swiss hitthe backhand like he had never done before.
Tsitsipas reminded me a little bit of that this week. We hope that this is just the beginning and that he continues to play like this in the coming months."
The first big test for the Greek will be the Indian Wells Masters 1000.
