TSITSIPAS TAKES DOWN SINNER!! 💪 The two-time Monte-Carlo champion inflicts only the second defeat of the season on Sinner - with an epic three-set victory to reach the final! #RolexMonteCarloMasters @steftsitsipas
Stefanos Tsitsipas has a third Monte-Carlo Masters crown very much in his sights after defeating Jannik Sinner 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 on Saturday afternoon in Monaco. A tournament where he is pretty adept having won two out of the last three editions, he will face either Novak Djokovic or Casper Ruud in the final.
Tsitsipas is only the second player to beat World No.2, Jannik Sinner in 2024 winning in two hours 40 minutes as he continues his love affair with this tournament. He also will play in a 7th career ATP Masters 1000 final, his first since August and will be back in the top 10 on Monday. After a slump in recent months, the stars have certainly aligned again.
There are alarm bells for fans of Sinner though going into Madrid where he will next play. A knee issue in the third set did nothing to remove the dominance of Tsitsipas at times during the clash, but it did nearly retire Sinner from the tie and could be something that is watch ahead of Madrid. Especially with Carlos Alcaraz also injured right now and even a doubt to play next week at the Barcelona Open.
The opening set was very much dominant from both on their serves with Sinner under pressure early with a break point in the very first game. But this was taken by Tsitsipas to go 2-1 up which was the difference in the opener. Apart from taking two chances to seal the set, there were no other break chances on either end. Set two was the opposite too as Sinner took one break to start off and send it to a decider. He went off into the distance 4-1 and 5-2 up. But nearly was broken going 5-2 up and also when serving for the set before finally getting a set on the board. But the third set was the story of the ailing Sinner.
He broke to begin the final set, but had to call for the trainer in the latter half of the set with Tsitsipas breaking to go 4-4 and bring it back onto his serve. The Greek went on to seal the tie holding comfortably then breaking again. But there were some concerns that Sinner wouldn't even finish the tie. Tsitsipas did it for him though sealing the final set and will now face Djokovic or Ruud tomorrow.
TSITSIPAS TAKES DOWN SINNER!! 💪 The two-time Monte-Carlo champion inflicts only the second defeat of the season on Sinner - with an epic three-set victory to reach the final! #RolexMonteCarloMasters @steftsitsipas