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De Minaur vs Tsitsipas Washington 2026: Top Seed Snaps Head-to-Head Curse

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Alex de Minaur finally turned the tables on his toughest rival on Tour, beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the first round of the Mubadala Citi DC Open on Wednesday to begin his defence of the Washington title.

De Minaur Tsitsipas Washington 2026: A Lopsided Rivalry Reversed

It was far from a straightforward assignment. Tsitsipas had won 12 of the pair’s previous 13 meetings on the Lexus ATP Head2Head, giving De Minaur about as unfavourable a draw as a defending champion could face in round one. The Greek had also held the upper hand in their recent encounters, including their most recent clash in Miami back in March.

Tsitsipas actually looked the more dangerous player early, racing out to a 4-2 lead in the opening set. De Minaur answered by winning four straight games to snatch it 6-4. The World No. 51 Tsitsipas found another gear to level things at a set apiece, but De Minaur reasserted himself in the decider, closing out the match 6-3 behind his trademark court coverage and defensive resilience after just over two hours on Stadium Court.

De Minaur Tsitsipas Washington 2026

Match Stats and De Minaur’s Own Words

Speaking afterward, De Minaur credited a change in his service tactics for finally cracking the code against Tsitsipas, noting that in the past his serve hadn’t held up well against the Greek but that switching things up “ended up working out for me” this time. He was candid that it wasn’t his cleanest tennis, but said he was satisfied to have found a way through a tricky, low-key affair just days after his wedding.

The win extends an impressive run of form at this level: De Minaur now leads the ATP Tour with 60 match wins at ATP 500 events since the start of 2023, ahead of Carlos Alcaraz (50-6) and Alexander Zverev (50-19) on that same list. He’s also improved to 28-14 on the season and is competing as a tour-level top seed for just the fifth time in his career.

Defending Champion Status on the Line in Washington

The win is especially meaningful given the venue. De Minaur arrives in Washington as the reigning champion, having saved three championship points last year to beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in an epic three-set final. Doing it again while dismantling a genuine bogey opponent sends a clear signal to the rest of the draw that his form from 2025 hasn’t gone anywhere.

What’s Next After De Minaur’s Tsitsipas Win in Washington

Up next for the Australian is a second-round meeting with 17-year-old countryman Cruz Hewitt, son of ATP No. 1 Club member Lleyton Hewitt, who was in the stands at Stadium Court to watch De Minaur’s win. It’s a storyline made for Washington: the defending champion against a teenage wildcard with one of the most recognisable surnames in Australian tennis, and with Hewitt Sr. watching from courtside once again.

De Minaur will be the clear favourite, but as Wednesday’s result proved, recent history in Washington counts for very little once the ball is in play.

Cruz Hewitt Wins ATP Tour Debut, 22 Years After Father Lleyton’s Washington Title

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Cruz Hewitt announced himself on the ATP Tour in style. The 17-year-old Australian, son of former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, defeated American qualifier Marcos Giron 6-3, 6-4 in just 74 minutes on Tuesday, winning his first-ever tour-level main draw match at the Mubadala DC Open — the same tournament his father famously claimed in 2004, four years before Cruz was born.

Cruz Hewitt ATP debut

A Composed Debut Against Top-100 Opposition

Ranked No. 612 in the world, Hewitt didn’t just survive his ATP main-draw debut — he dominated it. He won 83 percent of his first-serve points and didn’t face a single break point across the entire match, closing things out with a forehand winner before celebrating with his father’s trademark fist-pump celebration. His attacking numbers backed up the eye test: he converted 87 percent of his attacking points against a tour average of 67 percent, and held his own defensively too, winning 41 percent of points in defense against a tour average of 33 percent — all against a Giron, a player ranked inside the top 100 and a former world No. 37.

Following in Famous Footsteps

The win carries obvious echoes of his father’s own breakthrough. Lleyton Hewitt won his first tour-level match at age 16 back in January 1998 in Adelaide — a tournament he went on to win outright. Cruz’s victory also puts the Hewitts in rare company: the only other member of the ATP’s No. 1 Club whose son has also won a tour-level match is Bjorn Borg, whose son Leo Borg accomplished the same feat.

Speaking after the win, Cruz reflected on the emotional weight of doing it at the same tournament where his dad once lifted the trophy, calling it a special, surreal moment to get his first tour win at the same event his father won years before he was born.

A Season Building Toward This Moment

Hewitt’s run to Washington’s main draw wasn’t a fluke. He arrived off a breakout junior season, reaching his first Grand Slam junior final at Wimbledon just weeks earlier, falling just short of the title in a dramatic three-set battle. That performance — where he beat four seeded players without dropping a set en route to the final — convinced Washington organizers to hand him a wildcard into ATP-level qualifying.

Getting through qualifying was dramatic in its own right: Hewitt battled back from the brink against Zachary Svajda, saving a match point situation before the American retired injured in the deciding set — Hewitt’s second straight qualifying win via opponent retirement.

What’s Next

The win rockets Hewitt more than 250 places up the live ATP rankings to a career-high No. 357. He now awaits the winner of a blockbuster all-contender clash between top seed Alex de Minaur and former world No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas, with a shot at an all-Australian second-round matchup against his countryman and mentor de Minaur firmly in play.

Terence Atmane Stuns Frances Tiafoe in Washington Opener

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Terence Atmane spoiled Frances Tiafoe’s homecoming at the Mubadala DC Open on Monday, defeating the sixth-seeded American 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round. The win marked Atmane’s first career victory over Tiafoe, after four straight losses to the American this season.

Terence Atmane upsets Frances Tiafoe

A Hard-Fought Reversal of Fortune

Tiafoe, who grew up in the D.C. area, has become one of the tournament’s signature draws. He had reached at least the quarterfinals in each of the past four editions in Washington, including a career-best semifinal run in 2024. This year’s loss marked his earliest exit in Washington since 2021.

The match swung on fine margins. Tiafoe held serve comfortably in the first set, but was broken late in the second, and could not generate any break chances of his own against Atmane’s serve. The decider stayed tight until the two players traded breaks through the opening four games of the third set before Atmane broke at love with the match tied 4-4, then served it out.

Redemption After Repeated Near-Misses

Atmane had fallen to Tiafoe three times this year alone — including tight battles in Dallas, Miami, and at Wimbledon — before finally breaking through in Washington. He credited his mentality in the biggest moments, saying his focus was simply on refusing to make the same mistake that cost him a similar match point in Miami earlier this year.

Tiafoe, for his part, pointed to uncharacteristic errors off his backhand side as the difference-maker, admitting the timing simply wasn’t there against Atmane’s heavy, high-bouncing shots.

What’s Next

Despite the setback, Tiafoe isn’t done in Washington just yet — he’s still slated to play doubles this week, partnering two-time Washington champion Nick Kyrgios against Francisco Cabral and JJ Tracy.

As for Atmane, the win propels him into the second round, where he’ll face Alejandro Tabilo, who battled past Tallon Griekspoor 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 earlier in the day.