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Stefanos Tsitsipas has stated that he is looking to surpass Paula Badosa's career-best ranking of World No. 2.
Badosa rose to the second spot in the WTA rankings on April 25 last year. Back then, she found herself just over 2000 ranking points away from top-ranked Iga Swiatek.
Tsitsipas was in action at the ATP 250 event in Los Cabos this week, where he defeated Alex de Minaur in the final on Saturday, August 5, to win the title. At a press conference after the match, he stated his desire to equal or possibly better his girlfriend Badosa's career-best ranking.
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"My goals are to surpass Paula's best ranking, which is World No. 2. And to get better than that I'm..." he said with a laugh.
"The good thing about us is that we get competitive in those things in a healthy way so I hope I get to equal it or even better," he added.
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Badosa have been in a relationship for a few months now. The rumors of a relationship first surfaced at the French Open, when the latter was spotted in the audience during one of the former's matches. The two have since confirmed that they were dating.
Tsitsipas, who achieved a career-high ranking of World No. 3 in 2021, talked about his recent good form and said that the Los Cabos win was a good first step towards his goal of taking the top spot in the ATP rankings.
"Right now, good first set to get there or move to get there. But still very long journey to get to a point like this. I feel like my tennis is good and that was a good test for me this week," he opined.
"I think it’s a good start to the North American hardcourt swing" - Stefanos Tsitsipas on his Los Cabos win
On Saturday, August 5, Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4 to clinch the Los Cabos Open title. This is his first title of the season and 10th career crown.
Tsitsipas was in good form on the Mexican Pacific coast, converting four of nine break points to secure the win, his 39th of the season, in just 89 minutes. It is the 24-year-old's first hardcourt title since his Open 13 win in Marseille three years ago.
After the win, the Greek player expressed satisfaction at starting the North American hardcourt swing with a title in the bag.
"I will take the positives out of this week. I had a few good matches here and I think it’s a good start to the [North American hardcourt] swing. We’ve experienced a lot of good tennis this week from a lot of good players. The competition was high, and I’m happy to walk away with the trophy," he opined.
Stefanos Tsitsipas will rise to World No. 4 in the ATP Rankings on Monday. Additionally, he moves up to fourth in the ATP Live Race To Turin standings, which puts him on track to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals for the fifth consecutive season.
