Tag: Monte Carlo Masters 2022

FRANCE: The Greek Tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas outclassed the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to successfully defend the Monte Carlo Masters, here on Sunday.

The Greek, who was appearing in his fourth final at this level, has now won two ATP Masters 1000 titles, and has also won eight tour-level trophies.

With his one-hour and 34-minute victory over Fokina, Tsitsipas joins Rafael Nadal, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Thomas Muster, Bjorn Borg, and Ilie Nastase as the only players to successfully defend the Monte Carlo Masters title in the Open Era.

The Spaniard Fokina got out to a fast start on Court Rainier III, showing no signs of jitters as he started the better, swiftly establishing his range on his forehand from the baseline to collect an early break. Tsitsipas, on the other hand, reacted swiftly by hitting with more depth and sending a forehand past the Spaniard to tie the game at 2-2.

The Greek then kept imposing his heavy-hitting game on Fokina, dragging the 22-year-old from corner to corner as he won four of the following five games to take the lead.

Fueled by the momentum, the third seed took further control of the match and the 22-years-old Spaniard Fokina, despite showing the signs of grit remained short of pulling the game into his favour.

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FRANCE: The Monte Carlo Masters defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas has overpowered his Argentine opponent Diego Schwartzman in an epic quarter-final and advanced into the last four of the ongoing tournament.

Tsitsipas, who lost a 5-2 lead in the second set, rallied from 0-4 in the decider to win after two hours and 45 minutes on Friday by 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-4 in a classic quarter-final match that swung one way and then the other.

The Greek Tennis player Tsitsipas was 0-4 in the third set after losing nine out of ten games after leading 5-2 in the second. However, World No. 5 began to rediscover his rhythm, hitting with greater width and topspin to secure a thrilling victory.

The defending champion struck 22 per cent of his shots from offensive positions in the match, compared to 14 per cent for Schwartzman, according to Tennis Data Innovation’s Balance of Power.

In another quarter-final, Grigor Dimitrov secured an upset victory over Huber Hurcakz by 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2).

In the face of a spirited comeback from 11th seed Hurkacz, the World No. 29 fought deep to win 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2) and go to his sixth Masters 1000 semi-final.

The Bulgarian Tennis star will face the 22-years-old Spaniard Davidovich Fokina – who upset the top-ranked Tennis star Novak Djokovic in the second round.

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FRANCE: The Spaniard Davidovich Fokina has overcome the tenth seed – America’s Taylor Fritz 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final, here on Friday.

The 22-years-old Spaniard, who upset the top-ranked Tennis player – Novak Djokovic in the second round, has shown a high level of confidence and remained successful to keep the momentum on his side as he defeated Fritz in the quarter-final.

Fokina, a Spaniard, played with remarkable vigour, widening his groundstrokes to pull Fritz across the court. Davidovich Fokina’s shotmaking and fist-pumping kept the fans engaged throughout, and he advanced after two hours and 24 minutes.

He will face Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov in the first semi-final of the ongoing tournament on Saturday.

The World number three Alexander Zverev, on the other hand, edged past Italy’s Jannik Sinner in a hard-fought match to book a spot in the semi-finals.

In the second semi-final, here on Friday, the two players pushed each other to the limits by producing a classic over the course of three hours and seven minutes.

In a back-and-forth contest that saw 10 breaks of serve, Zverev finished stronger in a 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(5) victory to reach his second Monte Carlo semi-final.

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FRANCE: German tennis star Alexander Zverev beats 13th seed Pablo Carreno Busta 6-2, 7-5, while Jannik Sinner pulled off a thrilling victory over Andrey Rublev by 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 to book their quarter-final clash of the Monte Carlo Masters.

The five-time Masters 1000 champion Zverev thumped his Spaniard counterpart, Carreno Busta, to book his spot into the final eight of the tournament. The 24-years-old dominated the match throughout and pushed Busta on the backfoot.

The two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion was particularly impressed with his serve. Zverev won 79 per cent of his first-serve points, while Carreno Busta only won 57 per cent.

Sinner, on the other hand, after being forced to retire in the Miami Open quarter-final against Francisco Cerundolo, bounced back from the injury and secured a third-round win to book another quarter-final berth.

Both Sinner and Rublev were aggressive throughout the match, punishing short balls mercilessly, but the Italian’s defence and retrieving vexed his opponent as the game progressed.

Sinner showed no signs of slowing down after taking the lead in the second set after appearing to struggle with his movement late in the first and went on to win Rublev by 5-7, 6-1, 6-3.

READ: Defending champion Tsitsipas thumps Djere to reach Monte Carlo QFs 

FRANCE: The defending champion of the Monte Carlo Masters Stefanos Tsitsipas kept on his successful run as the Greek thumped his Serbian counterpart Laslo Djere by 7-5, 7-6(1) to book the spot in the quarter-finals, here on Thursday.

The world number five Tsitsipas, who took the clay court of Monte Carlo Masters in red hot form, has extended his run into the last eight of the ongoing tournament.

The 23-years-old Greek ruthlessly outclassed his Serbian opponent Djere to back his last week’s opening victory against the 2019 champion Fabio Fognini.

The Greek tennis player remained patient and served well throughout while waiting for the chances before increasing the intensity with his heavy forehand and clinched the victory in an hour and 52 minutes by 7-5, 7-6(1).

According to Tennis Data Innovation’s Balance of Power, Tsitsipas played from an aggressive posture 23% of the time versus 19% for Djere, allowing him to have more control over the action.

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FRANCE: Grigor Dimitrov continued his outstanding run in the ongoing Monte Carlo Masters as he upset Casper Ruud in the third round to qualify for the quarter-finals, here on Thursday.

The World number 29 Dimitrov is enjoying an exceptional tournament in the clay-court event as he stunned the fourth seed Ruud in his latest triumph.

With this victory, Dimitrov has booked his place in the last eight of the tournament after 2013 and 2015. He also booked a semi-final spot in 2018.

The Bulgarian tennis star displayed complete domination and control, stepping deep behind the baseline at times to take large cuts at the ball. He completed his victory over Ruud by 6-3, 7-5 in an hour and 31 minutes to advance into the quarter-finals of the tournament.

In another third-round match, Taylor Fritz thumped Sebastian Kroda 7-6(4), 7-5 in the All-American clash to book a spot in the quarter-finals.

Kroda, who stunned the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, could not carry on his momentum as he suffered a crushing defeat by his countryman.

With a victory in the third round, Fritz will now play Marrakech champion David Goffin or Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who shocked World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the second round.

FRANCE: United States America (USA)’s Sebastian Kroda earned the most shocking victory of the ongoing Monte Carlo Masters as he thumped the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in the second round.

World number 11 Alcaraz, who took the clay court of Monte Carlo Masters in a red hot form having captured his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown in Miami, suffered a shock loss against USA’s Kroda.

The 18-years-old Alcaraz, who made his debut on the clay court, found it hard to cope with the heavy strikes of Kroda.

The American tennis player, despite being a break down in the third set, bounced back and went on to beat the young Spaniard 7-6(2), 6-7(5), 6-3 and advanced into the third round of the ongoing tournament.

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FRANCE: Stan Wawrinka lost to Alexander Bublik in the opening round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Monday as the three-time Grand Slam champion played his first ATP Tour match in 13 months.

Wawrinka, who won the Monte Carlo title in 2014, was beaten 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 by Bublik on his return from a left foot injury that forced him to undergo two surgeries last year.

The 37-year-old was unable to maintain the momentum against Bublik, 24, who claimed his first win at the event in two hours and five minutes.

The former world number three has dropped to 236 in the rankings having last played on the main tour in Qatar in March 2021.

The Swiss took his first tentative steps back on the court at a second-tier Challenger event in Marbella last month but was defeated in the first round.

Bublik ranked 36th, will meet Pablo Carreno Busta in the second round, the Spaniard getting past Argentine qualifier Sebastian Baez 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

Argentine Federico Delbonis beat Jaume Munar 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to set up a clash with second seed Alexander Zverev of Germany.

Italy’s Fabio Fognini, ranked 32, took 2hr 29min to get past France’s Arthur Rinderknech 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, and next meets Greek third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Fellow Italian Jannik Sinner has beaten Croat Borna Coric 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

Argentine Diego Schwartzman battled past Russian Karen Khachanov 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-3 with the 12th seed next facing Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in the second round.

On Tuesday, World number one Novak Djokovic will return to action against 46th ranked Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

The Serb’s only appearance in 2022 was in Dubai in February where he played just three matches due to his refusal to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

This year’s tournament is being played in front of full crowds for the first time since 2019 after the 2020 event was cancelled and the 2021 edition staged behind closed doors.

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