Stefanos Tsitsipas raced past Daniel Evans 6-2, 6-1 at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on Saturday to move one win away from his maiden trophy at the level.
The two-time Masters 1000 finalist broke Evan’s serve on five occasions to improve to 21-5 this season.
Tsitsipas is through to his second final of the year, following his runner-up finish in Acapulco last month.
“I am indeed pleased with the performance,” Tsitsipas said in his post-match interview.
“I found ways to play at my best. It was really difficult to maintain my level of consistency and I am really happy I managed to deal with all the different moments during the match. I had a lot of opportunities to hit the forehand, and think how I wanted to construct the point.”
Live for moments that make you come alive. @rolexmcmasters pic.twitter.com/HRxpbViRB8
— Stefanos Tsitsipas (@steftsitsipas) April 16, 2021
Tsitsipas is yet to drop a set at the Monte-Carlo Country Club this week.
The 22-year-old, who has reached the quarter-finals or better at six consecutive events, defeated Aslan Karatsev, Cristian Garin and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to book his third ATP Head2Head encounter against Evans (3-0).
The Greek will meet sixth seed Andrey Rublev or Casper Ruud in Sunday’s final.
The 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion is tied at 3-3 in his ATP Head2Head series against Rublev (1-1 on clay) and has not met Ruud at tour-level.
In the first set, Tsitsipas found success by directing his groundstrokes into Evans’ backhand corner.
The World No. 5 used the strategy to force Evans behind the baseline, and he punished short balls with powerful forehand winners into the open space.
Tsitsipas came to the net on 17 occasions throughout the match and his movement up the court proved crucial in the second set.
The five-time ATP Tour titlist attacked Evans’ backhand and charged the net, before carving a backhand volley to break for 3-1. Tsitsipas raced to the finish line from that point to reach his 14th tour-level final (5-8).
Tsitsipas the youngest player ranked in the top 10
Tsitsipas is the youngest player ranked in the top 10 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and has a career-high ranking of No. 5 in the world, making him the highest-ranked Greek player in history.
Tsitsipas was the champion at the 2019 ATP Finals, becoming the youngest winner of the year-end championships in eighteen years. He has won five singles titles and reached ten finals on the ATP Tour.
Born into a tennis family where his mother Julia Apostoli was a professional on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tour and his father was trained as a tennis coach, Tsitsipas was introduced to the sport at age three and began taking lessons at age six.
As a junior, he was ranked No. 1 in the world. He also became the third Greek player, and first Greek male in the Open Era, to win a junior Grand Slam title with a victory in the 2016 Wimbledon boys’ doubles event.
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