In an impressive display at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece emerged victorious in the ATP 500 championship on Saturday night, triumphing over Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada with a 6-3, 6-3 scoreline. This marked Tsitsipas's third consecutive win at the prestigious Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
The world's 11th-ranked player made a noteworthy return to Dubai for the first time since 2020, when he was defeated by Novak Djokovic in the final. Achieving his third final appearance in four tournaments, his win in straight sets marked him as the first Greek player to claim victory in Dubai.
After defeating Karen Khachanov, Lorenzo Sonego, Matteo Berrettini, and Tallon Griekspoor on his way to the Auger-Aliassime match, Tsitsipas destroyed his weak opponent in an hour and twenty-eight minutes with an incredible display of booming serves, strong baseline wins, and exquisite drop shots.
In the opening three service games against his opponent, Tsitsipas only won three points and had to preserve two break points. The No. 4 seed, however, took the first set after securing the critical breaks, first for 4-3 with the aid of an Auger-Aliassime double fault. Importantly, he won the break that would eventually result in what he subsequently called his "final redemption" in Dubai, this time at 4-3 in the second.
Following victories in Montpellier and Adelaide earlier this season, Auger-Aliassime was clearly disappointed that he was unable to secure a hat trick of 2025 titles. However, he was full of admiration for his Greek opponent: Congratulations to Stefanos; it's highly earned, even though it wasn't for me. Tonight, he performed at a really high level.
In a thrilling two-hour match on Centre Court, Yuki Bhambri of India and Alexei Popyrin of Australia emerged victorious in the Men's Doubles final. The crowd favorites, including Popyrin, who once served as a ball kid at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship, showcased their skills as they defeated the second-seeded pair of Harri Heliovaara of Croatia and Henry Patten of Britain with a final score of 3-6, 7-6, 10-8.
Bhambri and Popyrin fought back after losing the first set, saving four match chances to win a tight second set tiebreak. A Popyrin ace on the pair's fourth Championship point sealed the victory in a super tiebreak.