By Chris Oddo | Sunday May 5, 2019
Stefanos Tsitsipas powered past Pablo Cuevas for his first clay-court title and third overall at the Estoril Open, 6-3, 7-6(4).
The 20-year-old improves to 23-9 on the season and 2-0 over Cuevas with the victory—he saved one of two break points and hit four aces in the one hour and 47 minute contest.
The victory marks a special occasion for Greek tennis. Tsitsipas and yesterday's Rabat champion Maria Sakkari are the first Greeks to win titles on both the WTA and ATP Tour in the same week.
Tsitsipas took charge of things early as he broke for 3-1 in the first set and he never faced a break point in the opener.
This year’s Australian Open semi-finalist and Marseille champion earned three set points with an ace down the T and finished the opening set with a hold at love.
Tsitsipas looked to be on the fast track to victory with a 2-0 lead in the opener, which he stretched to 3-1 and 4-2, but Cuevas engineered a break at love to level at 4-all and pushed things to a second-set breaker from there.
The 33-year-old dropped to 6-4 lifetime in finals. He was the first lucky loser to reach the title match at Estoril in the tournament's history.
Tsitsipas rolled out to a 6-1 lead in the breaker but needed four points to finally finish off the Uruguayan. He finally cracked a forehand winner on an ill-advised drop shot from Cuevas and dropped to the clay to celebrate his latest triumph.