Stefanos Tsitsipas: 'Roger Federer and Cuevas were my favorite players'
The top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas has claimed the third ATP title from six finals, ousting a lucky loser Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 7-6 in an hour and 43 minutes for his first success on clay. Stefanos lost a tight semi-final to Joao Sousa here 12 months ago and he came back stronger after a great run he has enjoyed on the Tour, proving himself as the player to beat and becoming the fourth player in 2019 with multiple ATP titles after Roger Federer, Dominic Thiem and Christian Garin who achieved that in Munich some 15 minutes before Stefanos!
Also, this was a perfect week for the Greek tennis, with Maria Sakkari claiming the first WTA title yesterday in Rabat, raising the Greece flag high over the tennis world. Two years ago in Antwerp, a teenager lost only five games against Cuevas and had to work harder today, especially in the second set when Pablo had a set point at 5-4. Landing 71% of the first serve in, Tsitsipas faced only two break points and got broken just once, putting the pressure on the Uruguayan who dealt with it nicely considering how many matches he had to play this week, suffering two breaks from four opportunities offered to the youngster and missing that chance to send the encounter into a decider.
The favorite settled into an excellent rhythm right from the start, keeping his service games safe and moving 3-1 up after a forehand mistake from Cuevas. Serving for the opener at 5-3, Stefanos held at love to wrap up the first part of the match in 37 minutes, hoping for more of the same in the rest of the encounter. Pablo suffered a break at 15 at the beginning of the second set when he netted a backhand, trailing 4-2 before shifting into a higher gear to make the battle more exciting. Stefanos did everything right so far but started to make more errors, allowing Cuevas to win 12 out of 13 points and move 5-4 in front, creating a set point in the next game on the return.
Tsitsipas saved it with a service winner and survived three deuces in game 12 to set up a tie break that he won 7-4 with a forehand winner for the ATP title number three. Stefanos is the fifth player born in 1995 or later with at least three ATP crowns, joining Alexander Zverev, Nick Kyrgios, Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov who achieved that before him.
"Estoril Open, thanks for hosting a quality tournament in all respects. From the drivers to the ball kids, physios and many more, all the sponsors of the tournament for making this such a great event. This victory means so much to me as I have worked hard to get here and to have the opportunity to play one of my childhood idols Pablo Cuevas in this final made it even more special. As you know, behind every player stands a great team and I would like to thank them for all the sacrifices and efforts they make for me. I would like to thank the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy, Patrick Mouratoglou, Kerei Abakar, Frederic Lefebvre and Jerome Bianchi, I know you were here in spirit, thanks also to my agents Nick Tzekos and Patricio Apey for everything they do for me.
Also, a big thank you to the companies that have believed in me and are part of my journey including Wilson Tennis, Adidas, Rolex. Last but not least, I want to thank my family, my brothers Petros and Pavlos and, my little sister Elisavet.. above all, my parents Apostolos and Julia. They have made the biggest sacrifices to support me, teach me and to encourage me to follow my dreams; without you two I would not be here. Pablo gave me a hard time on the court, he played great. It is not easy to find a player who knows surface so well like Cuevas knows clay, I admire what he has done throughout the years.
Together with Federer, Pablo was my favorite player on the Tour while I was growing up and that makes this victory special. We are the players with a one-handed backhand and we keep it alive, it is nice to see finals like this on the big stages. The weather was so nice today, it wasn't very windy and the conditions were perfect, we both had very nice support from the crowd. I always loved this tournament, remember watching Federer winning Portugal Open and always wanting to come here and play."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2VRjCvb
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