Stefanos Tsitsipas is set to fall to his lowest ATP ranking in almost eight years after tasting defeat in the opening round of his Dubai Championships title defence.
Tsitsipas defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime to lift the title for the first time in 2025, though he was handed a nightmare opening-round draw this year against Ugo Humbert — the man who lifted the title in 2024.
Only seven places currently separate world No 30 Tsitsipas and world No 37 Humbert in the ATP Rankings, though it was the Frenchman who had the upper hand in this contest.
Having won three of his four previous contests against the Greek, Humbert — looking to surge back up the ATP Rankings after an injury-disrupted 2025 — broke at the end of both sets to seal a 6-4, 7-5 triumph at the ATP 500 event.
“I think it was a big battle on the serve, we served very well from the beginning to the end,” said Humbert, speaking to Tennis TV.
“I was a bit lucky in the last game [in set two] at 5-4, he did two double faults, but yeah, I had the opportunity, I took it.
“I’m happy about this first win because Stef is a big player. We know he can play and reach the top level, so it’s a good victory for me.”
Victory for Humbert means he is provisionally up three places in the ATP Live Rankings to 34th, ahead of the rest of his campaign.
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However, defeat represents a significant blow for Tsitsipas, who is now set for a significant drop down the ATP Rankings.
The Greek is a former world No 3 at the peak of his powers, though he struggled to maintain his top-10 status towards the end of 2024 and the opening months of 2025, with a back injury significantly affecting his form.
Tsitsipas ultimately finished 2025 ranked 34th in the world, his lowest year-end ranking since he finished 2017 as the world No 91.
However, with 450 ranking points now set to drop off his ATP Ranking following an early defeat in his Dubai title defence, the Greek is now set to fall outside of the top 40.
Currently back up to 30th in the world following a consistent start to 2026, Tsitsipas is provisionally projected to fall 12 places to world No 42 in the ATP Live Rankings.
Though his official ranking next week is still yet to be determined by results across Dubai and other ATP events in Acapulco and Santiago, the 27-year-old is guaranteed to be outside of the top 40 next Monday.
That will mean that the Greek falls to his lowest ranking since May 14, 2018, when he was a 19-year-old ranked 43rd in the world.
Tsitsipas moved up to world No 40 the week after that, and he has remained inside the top 40 of the ATP Rankings after that point until now.
An opening-round match against Humbert, himself a former world No 12 at his peak, was undoubtedly a difficult draw for Tsitsipas as he continues his comeback, and he will have several opportunities later in the season to surge back into form.
However, the Greek now faces the risk of being unseeded at a string of upcoming Masters 1000 events, and potentially even at the French Open in May.
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