Tsitsipas ends 17-month title drought to climb back to world No. 51
Stefanos Tsitsipas ended a title drought dating back to February 2025 with a physical three-set win over Raphael Collignon in Gstaad, a run that lifts him 34 places back up to No. 51 in the world.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, Gstaad 2026 | © @breakpoint_images
Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas lifted the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad trophy, beating Belgian seed No. 7 Raphael Collignon 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3 on Sunday to become the first Greek player to win the title.
The win ends a drought stretching back to February 2025, when Tsitsipas beat Felix Auger-Aliassime to win in Dubai, and lifts him back to No. 51 in the world, a jump of 34 places from the No. 85 he was ranked coming into the week. “Oh, it’s an amazing feeling,” Tsitsipas said of lifting the trophy. “They show you how much good work you’ve been putting in. It’s a great sign of whether you’re on the right path, and these come with consistent wins – you can’t lift trophies if you don’t win consistently. Having that sign, being able to consistently deliver wins, fills me up with confidence, hunger. I want to do more, I want to push my body to the limits.”
“It was extremely physical,” he said of the final itself. “You could feel it towards the last couple of games how physical it was becoming, and I knew he was breaking a little bit physically. I was just trying to hang in there for a few more shots, and it paid off at the end.”
He needed the full seven days to get there, beating Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Shevchenko 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the semi-finals after seeing off seed No. 4 Arthur Rinderknech 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, Switzerland’s Jerome Kym 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-6(5) and seed No. 5 Ignacio Buse 6-4, 6-4. It is his 13th tour-level title, and his sixth on clay, first since Monte-Carlo in 2024.
I want to beat at least three top ten players this year.
Collignon, the world No. 42, was chasing a maiden ATP Tour title that would have made him the first Belgian champion in Gstaad. The 24-year-old had needed a rally of his own to get to the final, coming back from 1-6, 3-5 and saving a match point to beat Argentine seed No. 6 Juan Manuel Cerundolo 1-6, 7-6(5), 7-5 in the semi-finals, having also beaten Monégasque seed No. 3 Valentin Vacherot 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-5, Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego 7-6(2), 7-6(5) and Kazakhstan’s Timofey Skatov 3-6, 7-6(1), 6-4. He leaves Gstaad with a new career-high ranking regardless of the result.
Tsitsipas set his sights on more before leaving the mountains. “I want to beat at least three top ten players this year,” he said. “A 500 event would be nice to close the year with, if there is one. But first, the smallest goal would probably be to enter the top 50 again – I’d like to see myself back in the top 15.”
