ATP Tour

De Minaur overcomes 1-12 H2H deficit vs. Tsitsipas to start Washington title defence

Alex de Minaur could hardly have asked for a tougher opening assignment on his return to the Mubadala DC Open, but the top seed passed an early test on Wednesday by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas to begin his title defence.

Up against a familiar nemesis in Tsitsipas, who had won 12 of the pair's previous 13 Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings, De Minaur reversed the trend with a hard-fought 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory at the ATP 500 event in Washington. The Australian set a second-round clash with 17-year-old countryman Cruz Hewitt, the son of ATP No. 1 Club member Lleyton Hewitt, who watched De Minaur's opening win from the stands on Stadium Court.

Tsitsipas had enjoyed the upper hand in the rivalry in recent years, including in the pair's most recent meeting in Miami in March. But De Minaur, playing his first tournament since marrying WTA star Katie Boulter, produced a scrappy performance to overcome the Greek and keep his Washington title defence on track.

Tsitsipas appeared in control after opening a 4-2 lead in the first set, but De Minaur reeled off four consecutive games to snatch the opener. The World No. 51 Tsitsipas responded by raising his level in the second set to force a decider, yet De Minaur again wrestled control in the third with his trademark speed and defensive resilience, sealing victory after two hours.

“Coming in, I really didn’t have too many expectations. It was a quick turnaround,” De Minaur said when asked about his wedding. “I’m glad that I was able to find a way in a tricky match. It wasn’t pretty tennis, but I did just enough to get over the line and I’m happy with that.

“Stefanos has been an incredible player for a very long time. He’s able to really hold that inside-out forehand really well and if you’re not able to find his backhand, you’re in a lot of trouble. In the past, I didn’t serve the best when I played him. Today I changed it up a little bit and it ended up working out for me.”

De Minaur has now won a Tour-leading 60 ATP 500 matches since the start of the 2023 season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, highlighted by trophies in Acapulco (2023, 2024), Washington (2025) and Rotterdam (2026). The No. 6 player in the PIF ATP Rankings is competing as the top seed at a tour-level event for just the fifth time in his career.

ATP 500 Win Leaders (since start of 2023) 

Tsitsipas arrived in Washington showing encouraging signs after ending a 16-month title drought by triumphing in Gstaad earlier this month. Competing as World No. 51 following an inconsistent 12 months, the Greek produced flashes of his best tennis but was unable to withstand De Minaur's relentless consistency as the Australian improved to 28-14 on the season.