Stefanos Tsitsipas  won his first ATP title for 16 months beating Raphael Collignon in the Swiss Open final in Gstaad 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3 for his fourth three-set victory of the week.

Tsitsipas the World No. 85 has had difficult 12 months and has struggled to find his best form, converted five of 13 break points he earned against Collignon.

The 27-year-old Greek responded well to the disappointment of losing the second-set tie-break, breaking his opponent’s serve twice in the decider to complete a two-hour, 17-minute  win.

Because of his Gstaad title run, Tsitsipas will rise 30 spots on Monday to No. 55 in the ATP Rankings.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/tsitsipas-collignon-gstaad-2026-final

The 27-year-old is the first Greek to win at the tournament in the Swiss Alps, and claimed  his reward will be a more relaxed week ahead of the North American hard-court swing.

“It’s a crazy feeling right now,” Tsitsipas said after winning his first tour-level title since Dubai in March 2025. “I survived a marathon and it was a long week. I played some crazy matches in the past couple of days… Every single match felt like It was never finished and somehow I managed to convert every single time and get the victory.

“Today I couldn’t be more blessed, couldn’t be more happy. It’s been an incredible effort from my side to go out there and do that over and over again. I’ve dealt with some pain in the past couple of days. So I’ve had to withstand a lot of different things. The result was obviously the best thing I would have imagined at the beginning of the week.”

“I’m going back home. I will need one or two days off. It’s been a long week,” said Tsitsipas, a 13-time tour-level champion, said. “It’s been a lot of crazy matches and I need some recovery and some rest in order to be ready for the American swing.

I’m looking forward to trying to do the best possible results in the U.S. swing and in order to do that I’ll need to be fresh and prepared for a long few weeks on the road.”

It was the 27-year-old Greek’s sixth clay court title of his career, having won  the Monte Carlo Masters in 2021, 2022 and 2024.

For the 24-year-old Collignon, currently No. 42 in the world, was competing in his first ever ATP final.

Stefanos Tsitsipas jumped on a costly late double-fault from Aleksandr Shevchenko to earn a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory for his first ATP final in a year and a half on Saturday.

The former world No. 2 Greek who currently ranks 85th moved ahead in the Alps at the Gstaad Swiss Open and will on Sunday play his first final since Dubai in early 2025.

The last time he got this far on clay was in Barcelona three years ago.

Tsitsipas will play for his 13th career trophy against Belgian Raphael Collignon, who put out 2-25 runner-up Juan Manuel Cerundolo 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 in their semi-final.

The winner rallied from 5-2 down in the deciding set after winning just one of nine games in the early going against his Argentine opponent.

Collignon will be competing in his first ATP final after saving a Cerundolo match point at trailing 5-3 in the second set and constructing his comeback in the third.

Tsitsipas hopes to have turned the corner in his return to form after a disappointing season where he parted ways – for at least a second time – form his father-coach Apostolos.

The six-time Grand Slam semi-finalist needed one break to take the first set from Shevchenko, but cracked a racquet in frustration at a low point in the second as his opponent saved four break points in the seventh game.

With the match square at a set each, Tsitsipas regained control, breaking for 5-3 as Kazakh Shevchenko double-faulted.

A game later, Tsitsipas wrapped up victory with a forehand winner to the empty court after just under two hours.

“It was a great fight, we both played incredible tennis,” the winner said. “We both deserved the win.

“The altitude (1050m) makes it difficult during the first couple of days. In the mountains the ball bounces different.

“But the altitude also amplifies my game, my best shots pop a bit more.”

Tsitsipas and Collignon have never played: “We both really want it. Everyone wants to go out and give their all.

“I want to get out and take the court by storm.”

Collignon laid out his own strategy for the first-time meeting: “I will focus on my serve, be aggressive and try to play my game.

“When I do that I can be tough to beat.”

Main photo:- Stefanos Tsitsipas winning semi-final in Gstaad © ATPTour.com

Two-time champion Casper Ruud had to work for more than two and a  half hours to overcome Jaime Faria, the Portuguese who put out Stan Wawrinka in the first round at the Gstaad Swiss Open on Thursday.

Faria was riding the momentum from Tuesday’s defeat of three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka, set to retire this season and beaten in an opening match at his home venue.

Faria had his eye on a second upset as he faced Ruud, who lifted the trophy at this elite alpine village in 2021 and 2022. 

Ruud  ahd to dodge a bullet and mount a comeback to get through the second-round test against the Portuguese.

After dropping the opening set in a tiebreaker, Ruud played patiently as Faria saved five break points in the sixth game of the second set before failing on the sixth.

Ruud then pulled away for a 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 victory, his first since Roland Garros.

“Sometimes it is hard to say when you get a good feeling and you start to win some games in a row,” the winner said.

“You try from the first game to the last, but suddenly something clicked in the middle of the second for me, luckily.”

He added: “I had to really fight hard and if I played one bad game in the second and he serves well, it could be over and it would be time to go home. But luckily I can extend the stay.”

The Scandinavian could join Spaniards Sergi Bruguera and Alex Corretja as three-time winners in the Alps, with Ruud now standing 10-1 here over his career.