The Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas exults after his victory against the Italian Jannik Sinner in the semi-final of the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo, April 13, 2024. (Valery HACHE)
Stefanos Tsitsipas, double winner in 2021 and 2022, qualified for his third final in Monte-Carlo on Saturday, beating the strong man from the start of the season Jannik Sinner (2nd in the world) 6-4, 3-6, 6- 4.
The 25-year-old Greek, 12th in the world, will face the Serbian world No. 1 Novak Djokovic or the Norwegian Casper Ruud, double finalist at Roland-Garros (2022, 2023) and 10th player in the world, on Sunday for the title.
“I had to find a level that I had not played for a long time on clay,” underlined Tsitsipas, eliminated in the quarterfinals last year.
He had not beaten a player as highly ranked as Sinner on ocher since his victory against Daniil Medvedev (2nd) at Roland-Garros in 2021. And he has not played a Masters 1000 final on this surface since Rome in 2022.
“I am very proud of myself, I showed great potential this week,” he assured, also referring to his round of 16 against Alexander Zverev (5th), whom he dismissed 7-5, 7 -6 (7/3) after being led 5-0 in the second set.
On Saturday, he faced a player that only Carlos Alcaraz had managed to defeat so far this year, in the semi-final in Indian Wells.
For the rest, Sinner had 25 victories and three titles (Australian Open, Rotterdam and Miami). But if he had already reached the final four in Monte-Carlo last year, clay is not the Italian’s favorite surface.
Tsitsipas, on the contrary, feels good there as shown by his two titles on the Riviera as well as his final at Roland-Garros in 2021.
– Sinner massaged –
The Greek also got off to the best start: he managed the break to lead 2-1 and, having only left his opponent six points in total on his throw, comfortably retained his advantage until the end. end of the round.
But in the second, Sinner also took the upper hand at the start of the set to come away 3-0. He held his throw until the end, but with difficulty. Like the last game of the round, on his serve, which he concluded on his second set point after saving five break points.
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In the process, he took the advantage in the decisive set 2-0. At 3-1 against him, Tsitsipas even committed a double fault which would have given Sinner the double break 4-1… if it had been reported. But the Italian played the point and then lost the game, which allowed the Greek not to collapse.
Then the Italian started to have pain in his thighs: he first had the bottom of his right thigh massaged, then the back of the left.
Led 4-2, Tsitsipas won the last four games to qualify.
He will have the opportunity to become the fifth player in the Open era (since 1968) to win the Monte-Carlo tournament at least three times after Ilie Nastase (3), Björn Borg (3), Thomas Muster (3) and Rafael Nadal (11).
He is already certain to return to the world Top 10 on Monday.
For his part, by reaching the final four in Monte-Carlo, like last year, Sinner ensured to remain world No.2.
ig/hpa/nip
2024-04-13 15:10:10
#Tsitsipas #stops #Sinner #returns #final
