Stefanos Tsitsipas lived up to his top seed billing cruising to his second career title Sunday in Marseille, beating Mikhail Kukushkin 7-5, 7-6(5).
The 20-year-old Greek never never dropped a set in four matches during the week, though after several upsets he only faced one player in the top 45 – No. 24 David Goffin in the semifinals.
This was the first ATP event Tsitsipas was seeded No. 1. He is now 11-4 on the year.
“I lost the spark [after Australia] and I was frustrated because it felt like I couldn’t find it again,” said Tsitsipas. “This week, I can say I am really happy because I felt this hunger back again.
“I really hope it stays the same because there are many good players out there that play for the same prize.
“[I have] satisfaction. There was a lot of stress this week because I knew I had to face some good opponents… When you care a lot, you tend to be more stressed than usual. I am happy that I got through that stress and played the game that I was supposed to play,” he added.
Tstisipas improves to 2-2 in finals (he won 2018 Sydney) while Kukushkin falls to 1-3. Kukushkin upset both Denis Shapovalov and Andrey Rublev en route to his first final since 2015 Sydney.
“I was solid all week,” said Kukushkin. “I did not drop a set before the final… I played a really good level of tennis. Of course, it is one of the best weeks of my life. Unfortunately, I was not able to win today, but this week, the way I played, was one of the best of my tennis career.”
Tsitsipas will head to Dubai where he’ll face Matt Ebden in his opener.
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