Novak Djokovic trolls Stefanos Tsitsipas after Greek ends bizarre streak with Dubai title

Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Felix Auger-Aliassime to secure his first ATP title since winning last year's Monte Carlo Open.

Novak Djokovic trolls Stefanos Tsitsipas after Greek ends bizarre streak with Dubai title

Novak Djokovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas (Images via ATP/X)

Stefanos Tsitsipas ended one of the most bizarre streaks in tennis. On Saturday (March 1), the Greek took an hour and 28 minutes to defeat Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3 in the Dubai Open final.

The fourth seed has now improved his head-to-head record to 7-3 over the Canadian, who was aiming for his third title of the season following his victories in Adelaide and Montpellier. With this win, Tsitsipas snapped his losing streak in the ATP 500 finals.

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In his previous 11 finals in the ATP 500 tournaments, he never emerged as a champion. Following his win, 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, who skipped the Dubai tournament after his Qatar Open first-round exit, took to his Instagram story to congratulate the Greek ace but not without making fun of the 26-year-old.

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No one beats Stefanos Tsitsipas 12 times in a row on 500 tour level.

Novak Djokovic wrote

Check out his post here:

Tsitsipas struggled for form last year, winning just the Monte Carlo Masters. The 2025 season was no different as he arrived in Dubai with a 3-4 win-loss record. The Dubai Open was his 12th ATP title and his first on hard-court since the 2023 Los Cabos Open.

Stefanos Tsitsipas clinches Dubai title in his third attempt

Stefanos Tsitsipas was defeated in his previous two Dubai Open finals. In 2019, 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer beat him in straight sets; while in the following year, Novak Djokovic denied him the success with his straight-set win.

Stefanos Tsitsipas (2)
Stefanos Tsitsipas (Image via ATP/X)

There is nothing that ensured the win today, it was just pure fighting. It’s a big relief that I’m able to hold that trophy after the third attempt. It’s something that I had in the back of my mind, and I’m happy to say I accomplished it. I had a great opponent on the other side of the net, I knew it was a difficult task.

Stefanos Tsitsipas said during his on-court interview

Tsitsipas, who was dropped from the top 10 last year, will return to No.9 position when the rankings will be updated on Monday. Before Dubai, Tsitsipas had suffered two opening-round exits, including at the Australian Open where he had advanced to the summit clash in 2023.

The two-time Grand Slam finalist will next be seen in action at Indian Wells where he has made it to the quarterfinals just once. He lost to Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round last year.