What we learned from Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev ATP tournament wins

Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev, veteran ATP tennis players, won their respective tournaments in Gstaad and Bastad, respectively.

For Tsitsipas, the Swiss Open Gstaad ATP 250 is his first title in over a year. It is his 13th overall, and perhaps most significant, the first without his father as his coach.

Rublev added his 18th title to his resume at the Nordea Open, his first in over a year.

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Winning begets winning

The good news for both players is that they will gain a huge confidence boost from winning these events.

Great play and winning streaks often begin in smaller tournaments and carried forward to larger ones.

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Winning a clay court event during hardcourt preparation is less ideal

The less positive news is that both won clay court events. As we are headed into hardcourt season leading into the US Open, clay court training is not as vital. However, the ATP, with head scratching decision making, puts the clay events on the tournament calendar immediately after Wimbledon.

Sandwich generation, late 20s players, have fewer opportunities

Alexander Zverev captured his first career Grand Slam, but Tsitsipas, Rublev, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, and Frances Tiafoe are in a group of players in their late 20s in the sandwich generation. They played at the end of the Big Three era of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. Then, they got lost in the shuffle as Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz burst on the scene immediately after the Big Three.

Regardless, winning these week-long tournaments are great for both men who were ranked in the top five in 2021 and still have the games to reach that ranking again.