Stefanos Tsitsipas claims victory in Marseille

Top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas is on the verge of breaking into the ATP’s top 10 after he defeated Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin in the final of the Marseille Open.

Tsitsipas, who reached the Australian Open semifinals last month, battled hard to clinch the 7-5 7-6(5) victory over the 31-year-old Kukushkin in a little under two hours.

The 20-year-old Tsitsipas, who did not drop a set in the tournament, fired 14 aces and won 86 per cent of his first-serve points.

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“Winning titles is the thing that I am working for. It’s the biggest satisfaction and the biggest joy in tennis,” the Greek was quoted saying by the ATP Tour website.

“There was a lot of stress this week because I knew I had to face some good opponents. I’m happy that I got through that stress and played the game that I was supposed to play.

“I lost the spark (after the Australian Open) and I was frustrated because it felt like I couldn’t find it again. This week, I can say I am really happy because I felt this hunger back again.”

Tsitsipas will move up one spot in the latest rankings to 11th when they are released on Monday, and to within 200 points of 10th-ranked Marin Cilic.

The moment @StefTsitsipas claimed the ???? in Marseille! ????

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— ATP Tour (@ATP_Tour) February 24, 2019

Break points were in short supply in the opening set with neither player wilting under the pressure as they held serve.

However, Tsitsipas drew first blood when he broke Kukushkin at 6-5 to take the first set.

Kukushkin broke Tsitsipas for the first time in the second set and had the chance to break again to go 5-2 up but he was denied.

The tiebreak went with serve until Tsitsipas broke Kukushkin at the 11th point to set up the win on serve and take home the title.

In a breakthrough 2018 campaign, Tsitsipas won his maiden ATP event at the Stockholm Open in October before he also won the end of season Next Gen ATP Finals.

He also reached the ATP Masters final in Toronto and the 500-level final in Barcelona, improving his ranking from No.91 at the start of the year to 15th by season’s end.