Why Stefanos Tsitsipas' drought-breaking Dubai title win is massive ahead of Indian Wells 2025

After almost 11 months without a trophy, Stefanos Tsitsipas won one again. The Greek player produced a sensational level in Dubai, beating several notable players along the way to lift the trophy, his first since the 2024 Monte-Carlo Masters. It's a massive get for Tsitsipas due to a couple of reasons.

First of all, nobody really saw this coming. If we look at his 2025 performances so far, we can notice that they've been pretty poor. Before he won five matches in Dubai, Tsitsipas had only three wins and could have ended the first two months with that score.

Had he done that, it would have been the worst start to a season in his professional career, so by winning this event he was able to undo that. Second of all, it's massive for his confidence because it's been wavering for a while. This is a player who won the ATP Finals in 2019 as a teenager. He beat the likes of Roger Federer in a Grand Slam quarterfinal.

He beat Novak Djokovic, and he also played Rafael Nadal very close on clay when the Spaniard was still winning at Roland Garros at will. Part of that was his tennis, which can be exceptional, but part of that was also his confidence, as he had a fearless approach on the court.

That hasn't been happening for a while now, so winning again should help him regain his confidence. Finally, it's also massive because of the rankings and the race. Tsitsipas was ranked outside of the Top 10 before this event.

With the 500 points he will get for winning the event, Tsitsipas is set to return to the Top 10 at number nine. That's huge because, as a player who spent most of his career in the Top 10, he really doesn't want to remain out of it.

“To be owning a spot in the Top 10 is definitely one of the greatest feelings a tennis player can experience. It comes with hard work and sacrifices, but I’m happy that I’m in a position where I can really celebrate,” Stefanos Tsitsipas on returning to the Top 10.

The Race is another thing that's important. Tsitsipas missed last year's ATP Finals, and that was a big blow to his confidence as he usually found himself at the event. He's, after all, a former champion of the event. With the 500 points won, the Greek jumps up to number 15 in the Race, which is an active ranking. He was only number 71 up until that point, which was tragic.

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What can we expect from Stefanos Tsitsipas in the upcoming months?

Stefanos Tsitsipas - Internazionali BNL D'Italia 2023 - Day Thirteen - Source: Getty

This is indeed the million dollar question and one that is quite tough to answer. Last year was a streak of inconsistencies for Stefanos Tsitsipas, who had a big moment in April but didn't really do anything with it. Last year, he was in the same spot he is this year.

He had a bad start to the year, didn't play all too well, and dropped out of the Top 10. He teased a return ahead of the clay season, and he did return by winning the Monte-Carlo Masters in April. That was a big one, but after that, Tsitsipas didn't really do much. He made the Barcelona final, and that would be the last final he made until this year's Dubai Open.

He would finish outside of the Top 10, dropping to as low as 12 that year. Now he finds himself in a similar spot. He started the season poorly and remained out of the Top 10. Now he's won a big trophy and returned to the Top 10, so what can be expected from him? Tough to say, but he is a fantastic clay player and has performed relatively well on that surface.

If he can take this momentum into the clay season and put together some impressive performances and possibly win some trophies, he might even return to the Top 5. The potential is there, and he's certainly trying very hard, but without that iron-proof confidence he had earlier in his career, it won't happen. He has to play freely like he played in Dubai.

That's why he won the trophy. He simply took matches as they are and played free without any fear. He was hitting his forehand and backhand at a high rate and didn't think too much. Too much hesitation has been the hallmark of Tsitsipas last year, which ended up being the first time since 2020 that he finished under 50 wins.

Stefanos Tsitsipas is in danger of repeating that if he doesn't learn from his mistakes last year, but the hope is that he will. If he applies what he applied in Dubai, he will. Time will tell, but this upcoming part of the season has generally been very good for him. Indian Wells will be the first big one, and it's a court where he plays well.