Stefanos Tsitsipas wins Gstaad and lifts an ATP trophy again after 16 months
Stefanos Tsitsipas ended a long title drought by winning the EFG Swiss Open in Gstaad. The Greek tennis player defeated Belgium's Raphael Collignon 6:4, 6:7 (3), 6:3 in the final after two hours and 17 minutes of play to claim the 13th singles title of his ATP Tour career. It was his first trophy since March 2025, when he beat Félix Auger-Aliassime in the final of the tournament in Dubai. His triumph on Swiss clay also brings him a major rise in the world rankings, from 85th to 55th place, but even more importantly, confirmation that after a long period of inconsistent results and physical instability, he is once again capable of winning demanding matches day after day. Tsitsipas reached the title in a particularly difficult way, as four of his five matches in Gstaad went to three sets.
At the same time, the final was also a major moment for Collignon, who was playing for a title at the main ATP level for the first time in his career. After losing the opening set, the 24-year-old Belgian managed to restore the balance, play a disciplined tie-break and take the match into a deciding set. Tsitsipas, however, remained calm after the disappointment at the end of the second set, raised his intensity on return again and secured victory with two service breaks in the third set. According to the official ATP Tour report, he converted five of 13 break-point opportunities, showing how often he was able to put pressure on his opponent's serve. Collignon resisted for a long time, but in the closing stages he could no longer keep up with the combination of the Greek's powerful first strike, deep forehand and increasingly assured movement on clay.
A final in which Tsitsipas had to win more than once
The first set produced exactly the kind of tennis Tsitsipas had used for years to achieve his best results on clay. His serve allowed him to take the initiative early, while his forehand opened up the court and forced Collignon to defend from outside his optimal position. The Belgian did not retreat, remained aggressive whenever he received a shorter ball and showed why he had been one of the tournament's most pleasant surprises throughout the week. Nevertheless, Tsitsipas was more precise in the important moments of the first set and closed it out 6:4. The score suggested that he was controlling the final, but the course of his tournament in Gstaad warned that nothing would be decided without an additional fight.
Collignon improved his first-serve percentage in the second set, shortened the rallies whenever the opportunity arose and refused to allow the favourite to pull away early. The set therefore went to a tie-break, in which the Belgian played more decisively and won 7:3. For Tsitsipas, it was another moment during the week when he had to respond after losing a set rather than simply continue an already established rhythm. It was precisely his ability to recover mentally after difficulties that defined his performance in Gstaad. In the deciding set, he increased the pressure on his opponent's second serve again, earned two breaks and finished the match 6:3.
After the victory, Tsitsipas told the ATP Tour that the feeling was “incredible” and emphasised that he had just completed a week resembling a marathon. He spoke about a series of matches that felt as though they would never end, as well as the pain he had been dealing with during the final days of the tournament. His reaction after the final was therefore not merely a celebration of one trophy, but also the relief of a player who had often been left without a reward in recent months after long and uncertain battles. In Gstaad, he reversed that pattern: every time a match became complicated, he found an additional level of play or patience.
Five victories, four deciding sets and a darkness interruption
Tsitsipas's path to the title began with a convincing 6:4, 6:4 victory over fifth seed Ignacio Buse. According to the ATP Tour, the result ended a five-match losing streak against top-50 players and allowed him to avenge his defeat to the Peruvian on the grass in Mallorca a month earlier. It was an important opening signal, as he had recorded only three ATP-level victories since the beginning of May before arriving in Gstaad. He did not have to play a deciding set against Buse, but even then he showed a more stable serve and a clearer intention to take control of the point with his first shot after the serve.
The following match against Swiss player Jérôme Kym turned into one of the tournament's key tests. Tsitsipas won 6:4, 6:7 (2), 7:6 (5), with the match suspended because of darkness at 5:5 in the third set and resumed the following day. Such an interruption places an additional burden on concentration because the player must rebuild his competitive rhythm in a match that is already deep into its deciding phase. The Greek held serve after the resumption, forced a tie-break and remained calm enough in it to avoid an early exit from the tournament. The victory was not aesthetically perfect, but it was crucial to his later run.
In the quarter-finals, he defeated fourth seed Arthur Rinderknech 6:3, 3:6, 6:3. According to data published by Tennis Majors, it was Tsitsipas's first appearance in a clay-court tournament semi-final since Gstaad in 2024. The Frenchman managed to level the match with his powerful serve and direct play, but Tsitsipas again found a better balance between patience and attack in the third set. He then defeated Alexander Shevchenko 6:4, 3:6, 6:3 in the semi-finals. The ATP Tour states that he lost only one of 12 points behind his first serve in the deciding set, confirming that he was at his most physically and technically stable in the most important part of the match.
The final against Collignon was Tsitsipas's fourth consecutive three-set match. Such a run is especially demanding on clay, where rallies are generally longer, while the distinctive high-altitude conditions of Alpine Gstaad require additional rapid adjustment. Tsitsipas did not dominate uninterrupted throughout the week, but he displayed the quality that had delivered his biggest results during his best years: the ability to stay in a match even when he was not in complete control. Instead of one convincing performance, he built the title through several different kinds of victories.
A trophy carrying greater significance for Tsitsipas than 250 points
The Gstaad title officially brings 250 ATP ranking points and prize money of 93,175 euros. For Tsitsipas, however, the true value of the trophy is considerably broader. The former world No. 3 arrived in Switzerland ranked 85th, far from the positions from which he had regularly competed in the closing stages of the biggest tournaments for years. The ATP Tour confirmed that the title would lift him 30 places to 55th. Such a rise does not immediately return him to seeded status at every major tournament, but it significantly simplifies his planning for the remainder of the season and reduces the danger of facing extremely difficult opponents in the opening rounds.
Gstaad is his first title since Dubai in 2025, where he won his first ATP 500-level trophy. In the meantime, he went through periods of weaker form, physical problems and changes to his coaching team, while he was working with new coach Thomas Perrin ahead of the Swiss tournament. Victory in Gstaad does not erase all the difficulties, nor does it in itself signify a return to the top of the world game, but it represents a measurable turning point. Tsitsipas put together five victories again, defeated several different types of opponents and endured four matches that went to a deciding set. For a player who had often lacked consistency in recent months, that run may be more important than the category of the tournament itself.
The surface also carries particular symbolism. Tsitsipas has achieved most of his biggest career successes on clay, where the additional time to prepare his forehand and the opportunity to construct points suit him best. He reached the semi-finals in Gstaad in 2024, but did not take the final step on that occasion. Two years later, he returned as a significantly lower-ranked player and became the first Greek to win the tournament. The trophy therefore links his former reputation as an elite clay-court player with his current attempt to rebuild a stable position on the Tour.
After the final, Tsitsipas announced a short break before the North American hard-court swing. According to him, after a long and physically demanding week, he needs at least one or two days of recovery so that he can approach the continuation of the season in the United States feeling fresh. The next challenge will be to transfer the confidence gained in Gstaad to faster conditions, where his serve and first strike will remain important, but where he will have less time to prepare his main attacking patterns. The title gives him a better starting position, but only his results on the American swing will reveal whether this was an isolated success or the beginning of a more lasting comeback.
Collignon loses the final but achieves the biggest result of his career
Raphael Collignon left Gstaad without the trophy, but with the best result of his career so far. The Belgian played in an ATP Tour final for the first time, and the official report states that he will rise five places to a new career-high ranking of 37th. His tournament was particularly marked by the semi-final against Juan Manuel Cerúndolo, in which he saved a match point, came back from behind and won 1:6, 7:6 (5), 7:5. He was on the brink of defeat in the second set, while in the third he trailed 2:5 before winning five consecutive games. Such a comeback showed that his arrival in the final was not the result of a favourable draw, but of resilience and a growing sense that he belongs at the highest level.
Collignon entered the final without any experience of playing for an ATP title, but he did not appear intimidated either by the occasion or by the name of his opponent. After losing the first set, he continued looking for solutions, raised the level of his serve and fully deserved to win the second set in a tie-break. His defeat in the deciding set does not change the overall picture of a week in which he made an important breakthrough. His new position among the top 40 considerably improves his chances of gaining direct entry into the main draws of larger tournaments and enables him to build a more stable schedule, which is often crucial for players seeking to confirm their first major breakthrough.
According to his ATP biographical profile, Collignon entered the top 100 for the first time in February 2025, while during 2026 he had already won Challenger tournaments and recorded notable results against more experienced opponents. Gstaad carried that progress to a higher level. Although he was unable to complete the comeback in the final, the manner in which he forced the former world No. 3 into more than two hours of battle confirms that his rise is not temporary. Belgian tennis has gained a new important reference point, while for the rest of the Tour he has become an opponent who will no longer be viewed merely as a surprise qualifier or Challenger-level player.
Gstaad once again provides a conclusion defined by endurance
The EFG Swiss Open is played on the clay courts of the Roy Emerson Arena in Gstaad, and the 2026 edition was held from 13 to 19 July. It is the oldest tennis tournament in Switzerland: the organisers state that the competition has been held since 1915 and celebrated its centenary in 2015. The arena is named after Roy Emerson, the Australian great who won the tournament five times. The list of champions includes numerous major names, among them Ilie Năstase, Stefan Edberg, Ken Rosewall, Guillermo Vilas, Sergi Bruguera, Roger Federer, Dominic Thiem, Casper Ruud and Matteo Berrettini.
The tournament had a total prize fund of 612,620 euros in 2026. The champion received 250 points and 93,175 euros, while the finalist earned 165 points and 54,360 euros. Those points carried direct significance for both finalists: they enabled Tsitsipas to return towards the middle of the top 100 and Collignon to reach the highest ranking of his career. The conclusion therefore brought together two different narratives – a former member of the very top of the world game trying to rebuild his career and a rising player who is only beginning to establish his place among the elite.
For Tsitsipas, the final score of 6:4, 6:7 (3), 6:3 is far more than another entry in his title statistics. Across five matches, he had to respond to a darkness interruption, lost sets, physical fatigue and several opponents who played without fear in the decisive moments. He managed to win every time, and he completed the final without panicking after Collignon took away his momentum by winning the second set. That is precisely why Gstaad may become an important point in his season: not as proof that every problem has been resolved, but as the first firm evidence that he can once again endure an entire tournament week and finish it with a trophy in his hands.
Sources:
- ATP Tour – official report on the final, the result, break-point statistics, statements and ranking movements (link)
- ATP Tour – report on Tsitsipas's victory over Ignacio Buse and the context of his form before Gstaad (link)
- ATP Tour – report on the Tsitsipas–Shevchenko and Collignon–Cerúndolo semi-finals (link)
- ATP Tour – guide to the 2026 edition, schedule, points, prize fund and historical tournament information (link)
- Tennis Majors – quarter-final result against Arthur Rinderknech and the path through the previous rounds (link)
- Swiss Open Gstaad – official tournament history and information about the Roy Emerson Arena (link)
- ATP Tour – report on Tsitsipas's previous title in Dubai in 2025 (link)
- ATP Tour – biographical information and career development of Raphael Collignon (link)
- Swiss Open Gstaad – reports from the 2026 edition and the context of the tournament's distinctive high-altitude conditions (link)