Stefanos Tsitsipas is feeling good about his Wimbledon chances after winning his first grass-court title at Mallorca Open.
World number six toppled Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4 3-6 7-6(2) in a major boost ahead of Wimbledon, where the 23-year-old has never gone past the fourth round.
Tsitsipas’ heavy-handed game has not translated perfectly to the grass and it was again evident during a topsy-turvy final in Spain.
The Greek was broken when serving for the match at 5-3 in the deciding set, but the Greek held firm to clinch the ninth tour-level title of his career.
The second seed was clinical with his opportunities at key moments to prevail after two hours and 31 minutes. It was a Tour-leading 40th win of the season for Tsitsipas, who also lifted the trophy at the Monte-Carlo Masters in April.
Tsitsipas came out aggressive to surge ahead 4-0 lead as Bautista Agut struggled to settle in front of an enthusiastic home crowd before taking the first set despite being broken.
Bautista Agut appeared in deep trouble when Tsitsipas broke him in the third game of the second set, but the Spaniard fought back reeling off five games in a row from 1-3 to claim the second set.
A similar situation followed in the last stanza with Tsitsipas breaking the Spaniard for a 3-1 lead before Bautista Agut fought back and took the match into a tiebreak that went in the Greek’s favor.
By winning the Mallorca Open, Stefanos Tsitsipas improved to 3-0 in the head2head series against the Spaniard.
