Little by little, Stefanos Tsitsipas is entering the great history of the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo. If the Greek remains very far from the 11 titles of Rafael Nadal, record holder for the number of titles gleaned in the Principality, he has just joined Ilie Nastase, Björn Borg and Thomas Muster in second position with three titles, more than sports legends like Novak Djokovic (2 titles) or Roger Federer, who never even won in Monaco.
For this, the winner of Jannik Sinner on Saturday won in two sets (6-1, 6-4) against Casper Ruud caught up by the importance of the meeting. It must be said that the stakes were high for the two men this Sunday. On the one hand, the lure of a new big title for the Greek, out of the top 10 and who only had the meager ATP 250 in Los Cabos to sink his teeth into in 2023. On the other, a Norwegian over-motivated at the idea of adding a first major trophy to his list of achievements, he is the three-time Grand Slam finalist who has never won a title above the 250 category.
Ultra-offensive Tsitsipas
Under the eyes of a veritable audience of stars (Boris Becker, Francesco Totti, Ana Ivanovic, Charles Leclerc, etc.), Tsitsipas had a stellar start. Ultra-offensive, as since the start of the week, the native of Athens made the play with his forehand, forcing his opponent to step back, like his first break made to lead 2-1. Very comfortable on Monegasque soil, he who has now won 18 of his last 19 matches on the Rock, the new 7th player in the world even stood out on his weak point, the backhand, as well as on a magnificent shot made on along the line at 5-1.
Visibly very tense, Ruud, who defeated Novak Djokovic for the first time in his career in the semi-final on Saturday, had all the difficulty in the world to free himself, committing 12 unforced errors in the first set alone, offering the latter to his opponent on a gross fault in smash and a double fault (6-1).
Ruud collapsed
More comfortable in the second set, the Norwegian came close to taking control of the match at 3-3, obtaining three break points, all perfectly saved by Tsitsipas: with a furious forehand, a volley placed after a long line backhand and a courageous serve-volley on the second ball. Ruud had just missed the turning point of the match.
Serving to get back to 5-5, the Roland-Garros 2023 finalist collapsed under pressure, committing 4 unforced errors to offer the trophy to his opponent. The Greek could then lie down on the ground and celebrate his victory before sitting back down in his chair, crying. A little over a month before Roland-Garros, the three-time winner of Monte-Carlo has just reminded us that he will have to be reckoned with at Porte d’Auteuil.
