Stefanos Tsitsipas claims Dubai Tennis Championships crown in dominant fashion

The Greek star has struggled to find consistency in his game since an impressive win at the Monte Carlo Masters last April, with his slide out of the top ten of the ATP Rankings highlighting his decline.

That negative trend was reversed in stunning fashion over the last few days, with Tsitsipas changing his racket and finding his best form quickly with some fine wins.

He was especially impressive against Auger-Aliassime, with his ground shots appearing to have a little more punch to them with the new, all-black Wilson frame in his hand.

Tsitsipas will now leap back up to No. 9 in the ATP Rankings and he admitted that was a big goal after his challenging year.

"These are the things we are fighting for as professional tennis players. To be in the top 10 is definitely one of the greatest feelings a tennis player can experience," he said.

"It comes with hard work, sacrifices, and difficult moments you have to endure as a tennis player. I'm happy I'm in a position I can really celebrate right now.

"There's nothing I can say that ensured the win today. Pure fighting and trying my best to avoid a third final loss. It was nerve-wracking. I had a great opponent on the other side of the net. I'm just proud of how I managed to handle the pressure and perform in those crucial moments."

"This is something I was fighting for a long time. It's great that it happened here in Dubai. My game kind of clicked. Things worked well from the beginning. I'm very happy with how things progressed over the week and how I was able to close out some matches that didn't seem like they belonged to me.

"I had some crazy fights out here. It's a big relief that I'm able to hold that trophy finally after my third attempt. It's something I had in the back of my mind. I'm happy I can say I accomplished it."

Tsitsipas will have a big chance to make further rises up the ATP Rankings list as he heads to America for ATP Masters events at Indian Wells and Miami.

He only has 110 points to defend from his performances in those two tournaments last year, so he will have 1,890 points to chase in the first two Masters 1000 events of the year.

It was also a big week for Auger-Aliassime, who is back in the top 20 of the ATP Rankings as he made a return to some of his best form.

The Canadian has just 80 points to defend from Indian Wells and Miami last year, so he will be chasing 1,920 extra points if he can take his impressive form from Dubai to America.

READ MORE: Emotional Carlos Alcaraz relives loss to Novak Djokovic at Paris Olympics