Greek Tennis Sensation Stefanos Tsitsipas Wins Monte-Carlo Masters

Stefanos Tsitsipas won the final of Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters beating sixth seed Andrey Rublev in straight sets (6-3, 6-3) on Sunday.

Appearing in his third final at the level, Tsitsipas dropped just four points behind his first serve (24/28) to capture the second biggest title of his career after 71 minutes.

Tsitsipas claimed early breaks in each set and dominated on serve to narrow the gap on Rublev at the top of the 2021 wins leaderboard.

BREAKTHROUGH 🙌

The moment Stefanos Tsitsipas won his first Masters 1000 title! pic.twitter.com/3icLsgCx4S

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 18, 2021

After letting a big chance slip away at the Miami Open presented by Itau, the first ATP Masters 1000 event without Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic in 17 years, Tsitsipas arrived in the Principality eager for redemption.

On Saturday Tsitsipas raced past Daniel Evans 6-2, 6-1 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.

The Greek player has been in world-beating form this week in Monte-Carlo, where he also lives and trains.

Tsitsipas has not dropped a set

Tsitsipas hasn’t dropped a set all week, grounding Dubai champion Aslan Karatsev in his opening match, and cruising against Cristian Garin and breakout semi-finalist Daniel Evans. He also beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (7-5, ret.) along the way.

“I’m feeling good. I’m feeling energized. I still have plenty of gas and energy left in me,” Tsitsipas said.

“I was able to have all of my matches done in two sets, so that is I would say a big plus. I am happy to be able to play that way, just take it match by match, approach each individual match with the same intensity and energy. That has obviously contributed to that, to be able to finish the matches in two sets, not go to three-setters.”

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.