Stefanos Tsitsipas wins his first ATP tournament on grass in Mallorca

Stefanos Tsitsipas won the Mallorca Championships on Saturday, defeating Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets as they played on the All England Club's grass courts. Tsitsipas' first ATP Tour grass-court triumph came only days before Wimbledon begins on Monday.

The Greek player defeated Bautista Agut 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2) for his tour-leading 40th win of the season. Tsitsipas' ninth career triumph was also his second of the season, following his victory in Monte Carlo in April.

Tsitsipas seemed to be cruising in the third set after taking an early break to lead 4-1. However, 20th-ranked Bautista Agut, who defeated top-ranked Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals, broke Tsitsipas while serving for the match, forcing a tiebreaker.

"It looks like I'm playing longer matches on grass than I do on clay. This was an incredible fight and an incredible battle. I know it can be difficult for one person to deal with the loss, but I think for tennis it is great that we are able to play at this high level and show our sport at its limits," Tsitspas said in his post-match interview.

Meanwhile, Tsitsipas, ranked sixth, will face Switzerland's Alexander Ritschard in the first round at Wimbledon. Bautista Agut was attempting to win his second championship of 2022 and add to his ten career titles. In the first round of Wimbledon, he will face Attila Balazs.

Tennis' biggest competition, Wimbledon is all set to begin on the 27th of June (Monday). A major development in the tournament is that Rafael Nadal will return to play in the competition after three years. The 2008 Wimbledon champion has now revealed that he will miss his arch-rival Roger Federer in the competition.

"I mean, we shared lot of important things together. It's difficult in some ways to think of tennis in the last 15-20 years without thinking about the rivalry that we have. I think in some way we push each other. I always wanted to think that my motivation never comes to me because of others, that it's a personal motivation," he said as quoted by The Times of India.