The prediction Roger Federer made about Stefanos Tsitsipas six years ago after losing to him in their first ever match at the Australian Open

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Stefanos Tsitsipas is finally an ATP 500 champion, with the Greek ace beating Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Dubai Tennis Championships final.

Auger-Aliassime congratulated Tsitsipas on his Dubai Tennis Championships win, which he captured with a 6-3 6-3 victory.

Tsitsipas is proud of his title, which represents the 26-year-old’s first ATP 500 trophy at the 12th time of asking.

Before facing the Canadian, Tsitsipas had lost his previous 11 such finals, including three at the Dubai Tennis Championships.

He had, however, already won an ATP Finals title, three ATP Masters 1000 titles and seven ATP 250 titles, with Roger Federer having noticed his ability early on.

Roger Federer predicted Stefanos Tsitsipas to be ‘high up in the game for a long time’ in 2019

Tsitsipas met tennis legend Federer four times before his retirement, with the pair each winning two times.

The Swiss legend spoke of the Greek ace after he lost their very first meeting at the 2019 Australian Open, having been asked in his post-match press conference if he saw a bit of himself in Tsitsipas, who spoke of idolising Federer.

READ MORE: The defeat Roger Federer suffered which left him ‘crying his eyes out’ and questioning if he would ever win a tennis tournament

“Yeah, I mean, I guess so,” he said. “He has a one-handed backhand and I used to have long hair, too. Yeah, so maybe a little bit, sure.

“He has more of a continental grip than players nowadays. Sure, that’s a bit more my way than, let’s say, Rafa’s [Nadal] way.”

And asked if he saw Tsitsipas as being one of the frontrunners to take over from the old guard after John McEnroe made that claim, Federer replied: “Yeah, sure. He’s in front of the mic a lot.

“He’s always going to say stuff. I love John. I’ve heard that story the last 10 years. From that standpoint, nothing new there.

“About Stefanos, I think he’s definitely done a really nice job now the last year and a half. I mean before that, too, obviously.

“But beating Novak [Djokovic] in Toronto, the likes of [Kevin] Anderson and [Alexander] Zverev, now me here. That’s what you need to do to get to the next level. He’s doing that.

“It’s really nice for him. I see him definitely being high up in the game for a long time. That was a good night for him tonight.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas wins 12th ATP title at Dubai Tennis Championships

Tsitsipas was on a rampage at the 2019 Australian Open, with two-time defending champion Federer his victim in the fourth round.

But the Greek ace also knocked out the likes of Matteo Berrettini and Roberto Bautista Agut, before falling to Nadal in the semi-finals.

READ MORE: Paula Badosa and Naomi Osaka react as Stefanos Tsitsipas wins the Dubai Tennis Championships

Remarkably, all four of the ATP meetings between Tsitsipas and Federer took place in 2019, with the latter quickly getting his revenge over the former in the Dubai final.

Federer also won their Basel semi-final, before Tsitsipas settled the score by beating the icon en route to the ATP Finals trophy, with the former having pulled out of their ATP Masters 1000 Rome quarter-final.