After his titles in the previous two years, Stefanos Tsitsipas could enter the phalanx of clay-court kings who have triumphed at least three times in the Open Era in the principality with another success as a sixth player. At the moment, the current No. 3 in the world rankings is still looking for form.
by Dietmar Kaspar
last edited: 04/07/2023, 10:26 p.m
© Getty Images
Tradition has always been a top priority in the realm of the rich and beautiful on the Cote d’Azur. The tennis tournament in Monte Carlo was held for the first time in 1897 and would develop into one of the oldest and most prestigious in the world. It would be almost surprising if, in addition to his 14 titles in Roland Garros, Rafael Nadal did not go down in the history books as a record champion on the red sand in Monte Carlo. From 2005 onwards, the Mallorcan triumphed eight times in a row and from 2016 to 2018 he added another flawless triple at the Monte Carlo Country Club. The round of three-time winners in the Principality in the Open Era was opened by the Romanian Ilie Nastase, who, starting in 1971, was allowed to raise the winner’s trophy three times in a row. Also three titles, but not in a row, are for the Styrian Thomas Muster, the Argentinian Guillermo Vilas and the Swede Björn Borg.
Tsitsipas with a brilliant start to the season in Australia
As in 2022, when Tsitsipas kept improving at the Australian Open after a mixed show at the ATP Cup and only had to bow to Daniil Medvedev in a hard-fought semifinal, the Greek also delivered at the Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne this year. With increased self-confidence from four victories in the United Cup, which was held for the first time, the 24-year-old made it to the final this time, where he could only be stopped by Serbian record winner Novak Djokovic. He was then able to demonstrate his strong form in the Davis Cup with two victories in the play-offs in World Group I against Ecuador, improving his season record to 12-1 victories.
Drop in performance with poor performance in the Sunshine double
While Tsitsipas was able to record a final in Rotterdam and a semi-final in Acapulco last year after the Australia swing, the form curve this year shows a steep downward trend immediately after his appearances in the Davis Cup and culminated in another weak performance in the first Masters -Tournaments of the season in Indian Wells and Miami. The fact that Mark Philippoussis’ protégé, after poor results in the Sunshine Doubles, where he was also always finished before the quarter-finals, made the turnaround last year and successfully defended his title in Monte Carlo should give hope to the protégé of Mark Philippoussis.
Open field through top-class cancellations
Due to the cancellations of record champion Nadal and the reigning US Open champion Alcaraz due to injury, the absolute favorites have thinned out a bit. Nevertheless, there should be no lack of competition for Tsitsipas, who is in second place behind world number one Djokovic. According to the draw, the 24-year-old will start the game after a walk-through against the winner of the match between Bonzi and Zapata Miralles. But one thing is certain: there is still plenty of room in the annals of the tournament to write tennis history.
Here the individual tableau in Monte Carlo
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