Tsitsipas started the year at the Qatar Open where he lost in the quarterfinals to world No. 5 Dominic Thiem, again as a qualifier.[37] After losing in the opening round in his Australian Open debut, his best result in the rest of the early-year hard court season was another quarterfinal at the Dubai Tennis Championships.[38][39] Tsitsipas's first breakthrough of the year came at the Barcelona Open during the clay court season, where he reached his first career ATP final without dropping a set.