"I have a big chance finishing top two at the end of the year" - says Stefanos Tsisipas

Stefanos Tsitsipas was thrilled to successfully defend his Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters title this week and he believes it's only the sign of things to come.

He defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final in two sets but it featured a lot of battling between the players with Tsitsipas failing to serve out the match at 5-4 in the 2nd set. He noted that a tricky ending like that is very beneficial:

“It was a great way to top it off with lots of fighting in the end. [It was] not so much [about] going for clean winners or for too much beautiful tennis, but trying to put in the hard work in every single point and go over the limits, as I like to say.”

He further said:

“I have a surface that I might be adjusting easier to than other surfaces and we know which one that is. My goal ever since I have realised that… is if I'm able to score points [on] this surface as much as I can and really concentrate on the other surfaces a bit more, I can really pull off a great year, maybe even finishing among the two best tennis players at the end of the season.”

Tsitsipas said he wants to do better on grass and hard courts in the future months as well:

“I’m always trying to bring the best I can from clay and adjust accordingly to the other surfaces. I really want to be doing well on hard and grass this year, because I feel like I can really get a lot of points there. If I'm able to win matches with the same consistency I do on this surface, I think I have a big chance of finishing the year [in] the top two, which is a huge goal of mine to be finally there and belong in that special group of players.”