Stefanos Tsitsipas reached his first semi-final in seven months after beating Matteo Berrettini at the 2025 Dubai Championships.
Tsitsipas and Berrettini met in the blockbuster quarter-final in Dubai. They are both former Top 10 players, and both are trying to return to the Top 10 on the ATP Tour. Unlike his Italian opponent, Tsitsipas has a chance to do that already in Dubai.
To reach the quarter-finals, both bested some solid opponents. While the Greek player outplayed Lorenzo Sonego and Karen Khachanov, recording his 350th career win against the Russian, Berrettini beat Gael Monfils and Christopher O’Connell.
It was the fifth career meeting for the two, with Tsitsipas leading the H2H 3-1. Both are great servers and knew that to do well in this match, they would need to be at their best on their serve.
Both played like that in the opening set, but that was true only until the balls changed for the first time. After the first game and the first rally of the second game, both players created a streak that saw the serving player win 24 consecutive points.
That streak was broken when Tsitsipas got to two break points at 4-3. He didn’t use his chances and got under pressure in the following game, also facing two break points.
After neither of the players managed to break, the first set had to be decided in a tie-break. Tsitsipas was the better player, winning it 7-5 to secure the first set.
But Berrettini wasn’t too bothered by losing the first set. The Italian player put together an incredible performance in the second set. He hit his first serve 94% of the time, and after doing so, the Italian player won 94% of the points.
The 2021 Wimbledon finalist lost only one point on his serve in the entire second set, and on top of that, he played exceptionally on return as well. Berrettini broke his opponent’s serve twice to win the second set easily 6-1.
The third set was a proper battle, and ultimately, it unfolded in a very similar way to how the first set went. Both players were great on their serve, but that was until 4-4.
This time, it was Berrettini who had the first two break points of the set. The Italian player couldn’t use his chances, and like in the first set, it was time for the other player to have two break chances right after.
But unlike Berrettini in the first set, Tsitsipas was able to use his break points, which were also match points, to win the match 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-4, and secure his first semi-final since July 2024.
Paradoxically, it was Berrettini who beat him in his last semi-final, which was at the Swiss Open in Gstaad, which ultimately the Italian player won. This time, Tsitsipas will play against Tallon Griekspoor.
