Alexander Zverev missed the quarter-finals of the ATP Masters in Monte Carlo despite a race to catch up and suffered a setback at the start of the clay court season. The Olympic champion from Hamburg lost to feared opponent Stefanos Tsitsipas on Thursday in his adopted hometown after a disappointing performance at times 5:7, 6:7 and is still waiting for his first individual title this season.
At the same time, Zverev’s already negative record against Tsitsipas worsened. The 26-year-old’s five wins against the two-time Grand Slam finalist are now compared to ten defeats. Zverev’s hope that he would quickly find his best form after changing the surface from hard court to clay has not yet been fulfilled.
Zverev, who had won confidently against the Austrian Sebastian Ofner in his first appearance in the Principality, lost control of the game after a concentrated start and four missed breakballs. Tsitsipas then quickly pulled away in the second set against the increasingly frustrated fifth in the world rankings.
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Zverev fought back impressively again, equalized after being 5-0 down and forced the tiebreak against the Greek – but he finally enjoyed the audience’s applause after converting the third match point. The last remaining German professional in the competition is Jan-Lennard Struff, who will challenge Melbourne winner Jannik Sinner on Thursday.
