Paula Badosa and Naomi Osaka react as Stefanos Tsitsipas wins the Dubai Tennis Championships

Stefanos Tsitsipas has won the Dubai Tennis Championships after beating Felix Auger-Aliassime in the final.

Tsitsipas achieved a career first in Dubai, having lost all 11 of his previous finals at ATP 500 level.

This includes two final defeats at the Dubai Tennis Championships, including Tsitsipas losing to Roger Federer in 2019.

Having not won a title since April last year, Tsitsipas made an equipment change that appears to have paid off as he is set to return to the ATP top 10.

Photo by Waleed Zein/Anadolu via Getty Images

Paula Badosa and Naomi Osaka react to Stefanos Tsitsipas winning Dubai Tennis Championships

Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa are one of tennis’ few couples and have been publicly dating since 2023.

Having not enjoyed the best week of her own, with Badosa getting injured in Merida, the Spaniard took to social media to congratulate her partner on his victory.

In a story on Instagram Badosa said, “Once a champ always a champ… (love heart hands emoji).”

Tsitsipas also released his own Instagram post after winning the title in Dubai, seemingly poking fun at critics who have made comments about his drop in form over the past year.

The caption of this post said, “They said my game was sinking… so I got myself a boat.”

More Tennis News

This social media post attracted a lot of attention, including from Naomi Osaka who appeared to enjoy Tsitsipas’ caption in particular.

She responded, “lol caption kinda ate (laughing and clapping emojis).”

Osaka’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, who has also previously worked with Tsitsipas, praised the Greek for his victory in Dubai with just a one word reply.

“Bravooooo,” said Mouratoglou.

Gael Monfils, who lost in the first round in Dubai, echoed this sentiment saying, “Bravo Stef (fire and raised hands emojis).”

What did Novak Djokovic say about Stefanos Tsitsipas winning in Dubai?

Novak Djokovic, who is a five-time champion in Dubai, also took to social media to congratulate Tsitsipas on his victory.

Making reference to Tsitsipas’ previous poor record in ATP 500 level finals, Djokovic joked in his message to the Dubai champion.

“No-one beats Stefanos Tsitsipas 12x in a row on 500 Tour level (laughing face emoji) Well done!” said Djokovic.

Both players are now scheduled to head to Indian Wells, but Djokovic has suffered an injury scare in recent weeks that occurred after the Qatar Open.

The main draw of Indian Wells gets underway on Wednesday March 5.

Click here to read article