Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas's ambitions are clear - he wants to eclipse his girlfriend Paula Badosa's career-high ranking of number two and become the ATP's world number one.
Tsitsipas spoke to the media after capturing his first ATP title of the season in Los Cabos, beating Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4 in the final. Tsitsipas says he is motivated to reach the summit of men's tennis, a position that would put him above her Spanish girlfriend and WTA star Paula Badosa in terms of ranking status.
Badosa's high ceiling was becoming world number two a little over 12 months ago before injuries and lack of form contributed to her downfall in recent months. Tsitsipas is projected to rise to number four in the new rankings on Monday, ahead of Norway's Casper Ruud.
He's made it his goal to eclipse Badosa's career-high ranking, so much so, even at the expense of missing out on a Grand Slam title. The Greek has formidable competition in that regard. The current men's number one Carlos Alcaraz has beaten Tsitsipas in each of their five head-to-head meetings.
"My goals are to surpass Paula's best ranking, which is World No. 2. And to get better than that I'm...(laughing)."
"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."
Tsitsipas is still a long way off from the current top three in pursuit of the year-end number one ranking. But he was pleased to finally lift some silver after losing each of his two finals this year. He dropped just one set all week in Mexico.
"The trophy will have a special place in my house. I’ll take the positives from the week, I think I had good matches and it’s the start. We experienced some good tennis, good competition. I’m happy to leave with the trophy and the title."
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