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Greek youngster Stefanos Tsitsipas's French Open preparations gathered momentum as he claimed his first clay court title with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory over Pablo Cuevas at the Estoril Open on Sunday.
Top seed Tsitsipas made the most of his Uruguayan opponent's struggles on the serve to clinch the opening set and grabbed an early break to serve at 4-3 in the second.
But the Australian Open semi-finalist suffered a lapse in concentration and was broken for the first time in the contest during a stretch of nine consecutive points won by Cuevas.
Tsitsipas regained his composure to save a set point in the 10th game before sealing the victory in the tiebreak for his third career title.
"I was very calm. I stayed aggressive, stayed motivated, didn't think too much," the 20-year-old said.
"He didn't get into my head after he broke me back in the second set. That was kind of frustrating, but I kept fighting, kept believing that I can still win it in two sets."
Tsitsipas now heads to back-to-back ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in Madrid and Rome before he bids for a maiden Grand Slam crown at Roland Garros, where he was knocked out by Dominic Thiem in the second round last year.
"I've been building my game. It hasn't been an easy transition from hard to clay this year, so I've been trying to play as many matches as I can before the big events start," Tsitsipas added.
Garin subdues Berrettini to claim Munich title
Chilean Cristian Garin continued his remarkable breakthrough season as he defeated Matteo Berrettini 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(1) in the Munich Open final on Sunday, clinching his second ATP title.
Italian Berrettini was playing his second match of the day on centre court after defeating fourth-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4 6-2 in a rain-postponed semi-final in the morning session.
With just over a couple of hours to recover, the 37th-ranked Berrettini made a sluggish start in the title decider as Garin grabbed two break point opportunities to clinch the opening set in 35 minutes.
In the second set, however, Budapest champion Berrettini found his range on the forehand side to snatch a break before serving out the set to love.
Both players were tested on serve in the final set but it was Garin who dominated the tiebreak as he controlled the rallies with a string of aggressive groundstrokes.
"Everything was special for me this week, I will never forget this," said Garin, who will surge to the world's top 40 for the first time when the new ATP rankings are released on Monday.
It was Garin's 19th clay court match-win of the season and his second trophy of the year after lifting the Houston title last month.
