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.
READ: PCB completes inquiry of the team’s dismal performance in ICC U19 WC
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.
READ: ‘Ramiz Raja should gracefully resign as PCB chairman’ Aqib Javed